


A Spiders Lullaby

by Miola014



Series: Spider-Man: Where is Home? [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 'cause he's adorable, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Nick Fury, BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Peter Parker, Badass Peter Parker, But He Gets Better, But don't worry your boi Petey will live!, Dark Peter Parker, Dead May Parker (Spider-Man), Dead Michelle Jones, Dead Ned Leeds, Depressed Peter Parker, Domestic Avengers, Everyone Loves Peter Parker, F/M, Genius Peter Parker, Happy Ending, Hurt Peter Parker, Hydra Peter Parker, Identity Reveal, Its mentioned and lightly implied by his thoughts..., Karen cares, Karen is BAMF AI, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Minor Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Most of the time, Nick Fury Feels, Nick Fury Swears, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Pepper Potts Feels, Peter Parker & Wade Wilson are Best Friends, Peter Parker Joins the Avengers, Peter Parker Meets the Avengers, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter made Karen, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective Big Brother Wade Wilson, Protective Matt Murdock, Protective Nick Fury, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Wade Wilson, Secret Identity, Secret Identity Fail, Smart Peter Parker, Sorry Not Sorry, Sort Of, Suicidal Peter Parker, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Uncle Nick Fury, Wade Wilson Breaking the Fourth Wall, Wade Wilson Likes Peter Parker's Butt, but she isn't even his real aunt so..., but we love him anyways, eventually, eventually..., i am so happy that is an actual tag, only for a bit though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-01-30 03:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21421576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miola014/pseuds/Miola014
Summary: It all went to shit in the end, so why did Peter even bother trying?Tags, Title, Warnings, and Rating will all eventually change. You were warned.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Karen (Spider-Man: Homecoming) & Peter Parker, Matt Murdock & Peter Parker & Wade Wilson, Nick Fury & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Original Female Character(s), just a tiny bit though - Relationship
Series: Spider-Man: Where is Home? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685557
Comments: 243
Kudos: 1001





	1. Way Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FeliciaParker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeliciaParker/gifts).

> FeliciaParker is a new user, but she's been a close online friend of mine for a long time. She helps me with story plots, writers block, and y'all should be grateful to her as she kept me from abandoning this story about three times now😅

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Shut it Stark. I will happily murder you all in an instant… Other than Spiderman; I need him alive."
> 
> Sam scoffed, "Favoritism…"

It was all his fault… He had been the one to kill May and Ben.

Peter slumped with his back against the concrete wall, letting himself fall to sit on the roof. He kept his eyes shut, refusing to let any tears fall as he held back a whimper of a cry. He was the reason they were dead, so he had no right to mourn them.

Peter let himself sit there for hours, not able to fully function or process the situation. After a while, he pulled out his phone but found his fingers too shaky to dial in a number. “K-karen. Call Nick Fury…” His AI didn’t reply as she dialed the number for him. The man picked up just as the third ring went on, “Spiderman? What’s happening? You do realise it’s the middle of the night, do you not?” Peter winced at the sound of his voice, not having heard any other noises in a while thanks to Karen muffling out the sounds by his mask. He could hear some of the Avengers scoff at Furys' statement, "You're one to talk!"

“Gahh, umm… N-nick, I… I ne, need your- h-help….” God, he must sound pathetic. The voice in his head hummed in agreement with his thought statement. There was a short pause before Peter heard a screech from a metal chair being pushed back and hurried footsteps as Fury yelled to someone, “Shut up, I need to head out. Kid, what happened?”

Peter gulped lightly, “Umm, y-you know what? Ju-just uh, turn, turn on the news… It should be up by now…” Peter heard him still before hearing the news come on wherever he was. He could hear the reporter as she explained the scene of devastation that came upon the Parker household. “-njamin and May Parker. They were raising their nephew, who has so far not been located, and has been reported missing from school for the past week. No one is sure how the fire started, though authorities say that the death came from possible gunshot wounds-"

The woman's voice faded as Peter heard Fury running from the room he was in. "Is your tracker still intact?"

Huh. Good question. Had Peter removed the tracker Fury insisted he have, or had he left it alone for once? "I don't know but I'll have Karen send my coordinates just to be safe…" After hanging up, Peter had Karen do just that. After she told him that Fury was on his way, Peter let himself lay down and he closed his eyes, his breath coming out shallow and pained. “Karen? Umm, can, can you uh, play s-something for me? Anything, just…”

There was a heartbeat of silence before Karen's voice sounded through, as light and comforting as a miniature bell or a mother's voice. “Of course, Peter. Right away~” Immediately, Peter felt some of the tension leave his body as Karen started to play ‘Counting Stars’ by OneRepublic. “Thanks, K.” “...Of course, Peter. Try to rest for a few minutes before Fury arrives to your aid.”

“Mmm…” He closed his eyes beneath his mask and let himself fall into a calm sleep of emptiness. He wasn’t sure if it would be good or bad that he dreamt of nothing but darkness, but it both helped and broke him.

* * *

Tony didn’t know what to think of Spiderman. Fury had brought him to them after turning on the news of some fire breaking out, and had demanded that the guy be given a living space. Tony hadn’t minded, knowing that the vigilante wouldn’t be much trouble, but that didn’t mean he was 100% up to having him around at first.

For one, no one other then Fury knew anything about the guy. He refused to show his identity, left his mask on all the time(if not the entire suit), and apparently left no DNA printings on anything, so Tony couldn’t pin an identity on him. Tony could tell he was rather young, possibly early to mid twenties, what due to the slight highness in his voice and his height, but his being young was just about as much as anyone could read on him. They would have tried Wanda for the task, but she had refused for god knows how long before eventually trying and revealing that something on Spidey’s mask made it incapable for her to access his thoughts(and as it turned out, the guy wore his mask for sleeping, so they couldn’t catch him off guard). No trust was shown from him, but then again, in his defense, their attempts at discovering his identity was reason enough for low trust- but he hadn’t shown any even before they started to do it all, so there!

For two, he was way too much of an introvert. For  _ anyone's  _ liking. Wanda and Bucky were usually the most reserved and closed themselves off once in a while, and Natasha was usually silent, and Tony hid away in his lab to work for long periods of time. But Spidey? Hah! He broke a record. Tony didn’t know how, but the guy managed to survive hiding away in his room for nearly a month before eventually coming out to have a single meal, and then hiding away for another good week or so(Tony was certain that his metabolism was just as bad as Steves, so at one point he was sure the vigilante had just about died). He never spoke to anyone unless it was needed and couldn’t be answered with a body movement, and even then he kept it shorter than ten words. Tony had once tried to ask him about his civilian life and the guy had answered “Don’t have one” before just walking away.

Who does that?!

For three, he never listened. When he had moved in, he had been made an official Avenger, instead of just being the guy Fury called on whenever he thought they couldn’t handle something on their own or civilians had a chance of being a casualty. Look, Tony admitted that Spiderman was a huge help. He was more gentle with civilians, to the point where random five year olds heard more from him in a minute then the avengers did in a month. With him around, they never had a casualty, and the bad guys usually were detained better. None of them knew his full capacity of his powers, other then Fury, but he obviously had super strength that could put even Hulk to shame as they had all watched him become capsized by a building once before he lifted it off himself and walked away without injuries minus a few scratches. The problem was; he didn’t take orders well, if at all. He didn’t pay attention during the meetings, and whenever they went over a briefing on their way to a fight or a HYDRA base, the guy completely ignored them all. Tony didn’t know what was up with his suit, but he could have sworn he’s seen the guy talking to himself and listening to music behind that mask. Once, when he had ignored Capsicles orders on a mission, Steve had lectured to him for a straight twenty minutes before they had all noticed that he had fallen asleep standing.

There was a lot of other stuff to it, enough for Tony to make a list, but to put it simply; the guy wasn’t very likeable. Which then raised the question of why Tony still found himself to be so interested and almost favorable to him.

Tony knew the guy was smart. Whenever Tony or Bruce went off on one of their smart-guy rants, the others seemed to drone them out or just flat out ignore them, while Spiderman became more invested in listening to them then they had ever seen. He would lean in and give them his full attention, and would even once in a while give out a helpful and smart comment to add in, no matter how short it may be. Tony quickly caught on that while Spiderman tried to show indifference, he was a closet-fan to geniuses.

Another thing Tony found interesting, was communicating with him. Spidey wasn’t open to talking about himself, and wouldn’t reply when anyone asked of his past, instead just leaving and closing himself off for a few days. Tony had studied the vigilantes habits for a decent month before learning how to approach him correctly, and he honestly took it as his personal challenge/game:

1) He first had to make sure that the guy was in an okay-to-good mood. Strangely enough, one of those easier moments came during a fight. The guy seemed so distracted by fighting that he didn’t put up a mental wall against the others, and would communicate more so long as the conversation was directed to him exactly. The guy had once gone as far as making a pop-culture reference, and Tony found that as their main clue to him being the youngest. He usually shut himself off though halfway back to the tower, so that ended up mostly being a bust. Tony’s main successes at having conversations came during the middle of the night. Spiderman would once in a while decide that sleep was basically pointless, and Tony and him would have some short conversations, though Tony found that they were enough for his satisfaction.

2) Next was the setting. Like he said, Spiderman was surprisingly open during fights, but he would close off when they arrived back to the compound or onto the jet. He avoided speaking most of all when there were others in the room, counting to be over 5 people. He needed to be comfortable and know that he wasn’t going to be interrogated if he spoke up. So Tonys’ questions only ever really got answered when it was the two of them up in the middle of the night. The first time it happened, Tony had found Spiderman sitting bored on the couch as he watched the news, and Tony had managed to learn more about him(the guy said he could take alcohol but just hated the taste, he liked his coffee black and agreed with Tony that decaf is only drank by satanists, and the goggles of his mask actually dimmed the lights down because he hated bright lights).

3) Then there was the topics. This was the difficult part… Tony had learned ahead of time to ask the right questions as to not shut the Spider down, so he was prepared with what to ask. He would keep it to normally random questions, like what he liked to eat or drink, or what he wanted to watch on TV, and if the mood was right he might even get away with asking something on his suit(though he’s only learned about three things thus far). He seemed to avoid any kind of answer in general when there were others around, but when the two kind of hung out at night he would give some form of an actual answer. Tony only got a single personal question out to the guy, and he was absolutely proud of himself when it was answered; he had learned Spiderman was always an only child and loved kids. It may not add much detail to his identity, but it was a pretty decent fact if Tony said so himself.

Something Tony also found pretty cool about Spiderman, were his powers. Now, like Tony had explained, no one knew much about him other than Fury, so they didn’t know his full capacity. But they all found what they learned was pretty awesome.

Spiderman had super strength, a super metabolism that put Steves’ down, could stick to literally anything, could shoot webs that could apparently lift up a few planes and more, and had some kind of upgraded sensor. Tony didn’t know if the webs came from Spiderman, because he had once seen them come from a small button pressed on his palm, but that raised the question of how he resupplied the webs and how he created them and their strength. They hadn’t been told at all about his senses, but Tony could gather that he must have some kind of a sixth sense because Clint, who often liked to throw random objects at people to bother them, always threw things and food at the guy only to gawk when they were easily caught(the first time it had happened, Spiderman had his head down and they had all thought him asleep until he swiftly reached up and caught the apple Clint tried to hit his head with). Tony would gather that his original senses must have been heightened, because Tony noticed that he could hear things from other rooms, could smell someone's perfume or cologne and identify it from across the room, and he obviously had a thing against brightlight and could see in the dark.

All in all, Tony both got annoyed with him, and highly favored him. He didn’t fully trust him, but at the same time, he trusted him most of all. He knew the vigilante would do the right thing, but at the same time, he knew that they all had the right to be scared and nervous of him. Tony mainly trusted him though, surprisingly enough, because of Pepper.

When Spiderman had first arrived, he had shown his “shyness” by hiding away for two weeks, until coming out one morning to join them for breakfast. Steve had offered him a plate of food and he had said a quiet thank you as he sat a bit farther away from them to eat. In the middle of breakfast, Pepper entered and said good morning asking how everyone was, before she walked up to Spiderman. The others tried to warn her he wouldn't be as communicable, but she had already walked over. She had asked him if he was alright and basically fawned over him in a way that reminded Tony of a mother. Spiderman had merely stared at her and nodded and shook his head, showing her better attention than he had the others, to which Tony was pretty grateful. Pepper dragged him away upon learning that he hadn’t many clothes, telling the others she was taking him shopping, not caring if his mask be left on. When they returned, Pepper seemed cheerful and in high spirits as she sent him off to his room, claiming that he was kind and sweet, and he was officially her favorite(that offended Tony enough to hide his earlier gratitude).

Through Peppers fondness, Tony found himself drawn to trying to befriend the guy himself. Though he hadn’t gotten to the same level as comfortability as Pepper(seriously, what happened though, they spent a few hours together and Tony has spent months now), he did find himself just as fond. He didn’t know how old the guy was beneath the mask, but Tony knew he was probably young enough to be his son(possibly, but Tony didn’t even think biologically) so it was safe to say Tony looked to him with a sort of admiration as a father would. He didn’t take Spiderman as a paternal figure would, of course, but he did find himself caring like one.

* * *

Steve was making waffles in the kitchen area, enough to feed a small army. Clint looked to the amount he made and hummed. “There’s more than normal… Is Spidey comin’ out of his cave?”

Steve nodded towards Tony, who drank his coffee boredly as he looked to the news playing on the TV. “Tony’s managed to get down the mans ‘Burrow Schedule’, and is supposedly 100% positive that he’ll show up in about… a minute.” Tony nodded and true enough to his schedule, Spiderman dragged himself through the door in sixty seconds. He wore baggy looking pajamas that matched his favorite color scheme, and his mandatory mask had its eyes half down to show his natural bored expression, though it could have just been his tiredness.

Tony smiled to the others, mouthing ‘I told you so’ to them as he pulled out the stool beside him at the counter, letting Spiderman to sit beside him. “Mornin’, Underoos. Sleep alright?” Spiderman gave a short grumble as he took the seat in some form of gratefulness, and let his head fall into his arms crossed onto the counter. Tony chuckled at the action, which just went to show that Spiderman had to be younger than all of them, possibly even Wanda, who wasn’t even 26 yet. Steve smirked a bit as well, having found the action just as funny. “How many, Webs? 5 or 6?” Spiderman made an unintelligible grumble and Steve looked to Tony for a translation. “Give him five, and he’ll grab more after if he really needs it.” Steve didn’t even want to know how Tony got that.

When they began eating, Spiderman lifted his mask just over his nose as he ate. Tony made some light conversation with him, asking simple things like if he slept fine through the storm the other night. “Webbed up in corner…” Tony grinned widely at that while the others frowned in confusion. “I’m sorry- he did what?” Tony chuckled as he pat Spiderman on the back. “He created an actual burrow of webs in the corner of the ceiling and just slept in it to muffle out the noises. Right Shrimp?” The others were floored by Tonys translation when Spiderman nodded his agreeance.

“Wha-?! Dude!” Clint threw up his hands in indignation, “How the heck did you get that?!” Tony smiled, proud of his work, “Practise~” Natasha snorted at that, “Oh? Did your practice come in the form of just bothering him all the time?”

Due to his mask being raised up, Spiderman couldn’t hide the small smirk as he took another bite of his food. Steve and Bruce, who also sat or stood nearby, gawked at the upturn before smiling widely and staying quiet about their new discovery. Come the end of the meal, Spiderman fixed his mask and made a move to go back to his room, before he was stopped by Tony’s hand resting on his shoulder. “Not so fast, Underoos. Fury wants us all in the briefing room, and he made it clear that we make sure you come.”

Spiderman nodded after a moment and followed them down to the briefing room, and took his seat beside Tony. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he favored and trusted Tony the most, well, other than Mrs. Stark. When the two had first met, Spiderman had somehow admitted to only having a few pairs of clothes, and Pepper had gone ballistic at that, and dragged him into the car that Happy drove, and took Spiderman to a clothes store. She had him change his clothes and bought him a few months worth of clothes. He didn’t know how it had happened, but somewhere along the way, he ended up revealing his first name to her.

Pepper had smiled and held out her hand to him, “It’s nice to meet you, Peter. You can call me Pepper~” He had smiled beneath the mask and shook her hand. Pepper had promised to not tell anyone his name, even if she didn’t know his last, and he was grateful beyond believed to have her.

As he sat down, Bruce, the fourth person he trusted the most(the Hulk came as his third as ironic as it was), sat on his other side and offered a kind smile. Bruce didn't remember much at all from his times as the Hulk, but he knew that the big guy liked Spiderman. Peter didn't tell the Hulk his name, in fear he may scream it from the rooftops, but he has shown the green marshmallow his face. As he had suspected, the big guy didn't comment on his age being too young. He had only shown his face at first to calm the guy down a bit when he had mistaken Peter for one of the aliens they were fighting, and the Hulk had taken a liking to him. It was kind of nice talking to someone else who didn't speak much.

Fury walked in with an annoyed expression that only seemed to grow in frustration when Tony choose threat moment to crack a joke on Fury being a pirate. "Shut it Stark. I will happily murder you all in an instant… Other than Spiderman; I need him alive."

San scoffed, "Favoritism…"

Fury shook he head. "It's not favoritism, it's just the fact that he could beat everyone here in a fight so long as we made him willing." When some looked to try and argue that, they all looked to the vigilante to see him raise a brow of sorts to them and they realized that the statement was most likely true. Fury pulled up a picture on the board, showing out to be an aerial photo of a broken down warehouse near the river in a construction area.

"There's been reports of SHIELDS escaped prisoner in this warehouse. He's a shapeshifter, but he can't change his form unless he bites you, so a quick hint: Don't let him bite you."

Bucky rolled his eyes, "Thanks, we needed to know that. We usually make it a point to let the enemy bite us." A few chuckles chorused out as Fury handed Tony a paper with the coordinates. "Just get it done, will you?"

Add they all stuff up to leave, Fury pointed top Peter. "Spiderman. Hold up, I need a word with you." Tony smiled too peter, "Meet us up in the Quinjet on the roof." He nodded as he watched them leave. Once they were gone, Fury looked to him and offered his best form of an understanding look.

"You doing good, kid?" Peter often forgot that Fury cared, while not much, he still did. When May and Ben died, Fury had made sure right away that Peter was taken care of. Peter legally was SHIELD custody until he was 18, and Fury had made sure the Avengers had a room for him to sleep in in less than an hour of Peter calling him from the rooftop. It made Peter feel better knowing that someone was looking out for him still.

"Yeah," he could answer to Fury better than others, because he had known Fury for longer than he had even been in May and Bens' custody. Fury had been the one to contact the two to Care for him when Mary and Richard Parker died. "Still adjusting, but… I'm fine."

Peter had been in the Avengers care for a bit under a year now, and he still couldn't get used to all their antics. On his first month, he had only blinked in his shock as Clint and Natasha argued as they fell out of the vent in his room(the two had gotten lost on their way to the control room). Fury rested a hand to his shoulder, “Peter… Try to open up to them more, okay? I keep gettin’ anonymous tips telling me to force you to talk more, and it’s startin’ to make me wanna slap a bitch.” Peter let out an immediate laugh at the comment, and Fury smiled at his sound, “See that? That smile and that joy right there? Give them that, okay? It may take some time, but try.”

Peter nodded and Fury let him go. When Peter stepped onto the Quinjet, he had already changed into his suit, and he took his respective seat beside Tony. The billionaire smiled to him and pat at his shoulder, “Somethin’ happen, Web Slinger?” God, why did they have so many nicknames for him? He shook his head. "Okay. Oh, and by the way, Pepper said for me to ask you to stop by at her office. For some reason, you're her favorite, and it's kinda startin' to offend me."

Peter nodded. He liked hanging out with Pepper, and would happily listen to her.

Their mission went fairly easily, and Peter was starting to question why they needed even more than three of them. The guy had been pretty easy to catch as he tried to note Iron Mans suit and nearly broke his teeth. When they arrived back to the tower, Peter followed Tony up to Peppers office. He got a few questioning glances from the workers of SI as to why he wore his mask even though he had changed into a normal outfit. When they reached the door, Pepper was lying back on her chair, grumbling with her eyes shut. “Go away…”

Tony snorted, “Well isn’t that a nice welcome.” Pepper hummed at his voice, still not looking up to him. “What is it, Tony? No, you still have to go to the meeting in twenty minutes, so hurry up with that I’m not changing my mind.” Peter smiled when he heard Tony curse lightly under his breath.

“Hell, Mrs. Stark…” Pepper sat up in surprise at Peters voice before smiling cheerfully, “Oh! Hello, Spider-man~” Tony threw up his hands in indignation, “Wha-?! How come he gets a nice welcome and I just get told to go to a meeting?!” Pepper shot him a glare as she walked up to Peter and placed her hands to his shoulders, “Because you’ve bailed on all of them in the last three months, and now its my turn. Shoo.”

Tony rolled his eyes and waved as he left, “Whatever. See you around, Webs.”

Once the door closed, Pepper smiled back down to him. “Thank you for coming, Peter. I enjoy spending time with you, and you’re a magnificent help.  _ Much _ more than Tony is.” The two laughed lightly as he followed her to her desk. Whenever Pepper had Peter help her, it was usually with the company. She would take in his advice and input, and take everything he said into account before making major and even minor decisions. She had learned that he was so good with tech to the point where she would have him look over Tony’s upgrades and finished projects before she released or sold them. Whenever she had a problem with her phone, tablet, laptop, or even Friday and her car, she would go to Peter before even thinking of Tony.

Peter sat in the seat and let Pepper explain the deal she had been presented by Quale Inc., not sure if she should take the offer. Peter looked over the proposition. It seemed like a good deal, them not wanting much and yet offering a larger deal, but…

“Don’t accept,” He said, after reading through the long document. “Their offer is great, but they’re looking at the long run. The tech they want isn’t as usable at this time because it’s more common, but the more commonly used ones have defects, and the other companies using them are starting to go out of business and will stop producing them in the next two to three years. By then, our own version of the product, which is the only one produced that doesn’t end up defecting after a certain amount of time, will be the only one produced, so people will buy more of them. The offer they offered would be the amount we should gain in the time it takes us to reach that final stage, where we would end up creating a greater profit that would triple in the same amount of time.” Wow. That was the most he’s spoken in a while, and Peters actually kind of proud of himself.

Pepper seems to think over his words for a minute before smiling and typing back a quick and short reply to the Quale CEO, declining the offer. “You’re right, their offer is nice for now, but we’d basically be giving them a large donation. Good job, Pete.”

Peter smiled at the nickname, finding it was one of his favorites out of all the ones he’d been given upon living at the compound. “Thanks.” She smiled and side hugged him, “No- Thank  _ you _ . I would have been stuck on this forever if I didn't receive your help. You're so good at these things, and you're also amazing with engineering, just as good as Tony even." 

Peter felt a small blush creep up his cheeks at the praising, not used to being praised in anything other than how being Spiderman. "Th-thank you, Mrs. Stark…"

Peter spent another two or three hours helping and talking with Pepper until Friday said that Tony is demanding that Pepper return Spiderman. Pepper laughed at this, "Friday, patch him in." A moment later, Tony's voice sounded through. "Hey, Pep? I would very much appreciate if you gave me back the Spiderman because as much as I hate to admit it; it helps to have a young guy with super strength around when you start to get old." Pepper chuckled as she draped an arm around Peter, “I don’t know, Tony, I kinda enjoy spending time with Spiderman…”

Peter smiled at the squawk of indignation that was overheard. “I demand you refund im!” Pepper snickered, “And if I refuse?”

“I don’t care, just send him back!” Pepper laughed as she had Friday hang up, “Alright, alright. Peter? You might want to go help Tony, before he starts to get more pissed off.” Peter nodded and said a shy goodbye as he left. He had to go through the lounge room to get to Tony’s lab, passing Steve, Bucky, Rhodey, and Sam as he made his way to the door that led to the stairs down to Tony’s lab.

Rhodey glanced over and watched as Spiderman placed his gloved hand onto the panel presented, and Friday gave him open access to the lab. Once SPiderman was out of sight, Rhodey let out his slight huff of bemusement. Sam looked to him, “What’s up?” Rhodey shook his head as he tried to reel his head around the thoughts that passed through his mind. “How long have we even known Spidey for, with him lvin’ here- under a year?” The others thought and nodded. “I’ve known Tones since before college, and even I can’t enter his lab without a bunch of protocols and his permission. Spiderman can enter with the handprint given by his glove- which shouldn’t even be a sign of his identification. We honestly don’t even know what this guy looks like under his mask, and yet he’s given as much permission as Pepper.”

The others frowned a bit as they thought on the information. They had noticed it, but hadn’t truly thought on it. Toy had given Spiderman that level of access in less than two months of him living with them. Why?

They were given the opportunity to ask just about fifteen minutes later when Tony jogged up and opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of cider and two glasses. Steve rose a brow at the drink choice. “Huh. Usually, the bottles you choose have more alcohol in them.” Tony rolled his eyes, “Haha, very funny, Capsicle. Underoos doesn’t drink alcohol, so cider is the best option I have.” Sam pointed to him, “Oh, speaking of Webs, we were wonderin’ somethin’. Why did you give him full access to your labs?”

Tony didn’t even think on it or look up from pouring the cider as he answered them, “He’s a good worker and knows what he’s doing. I can trust him to know what he’s doing and not accidently blow something up to the point of no recovery, so I let him come and go whenever he pleases. Also, Spidey and I hang out and talk a lot at night when we can’t sleep, and we either spend it up here, or we go down to the labs. Being knee deep in work makes him surprisingly more open and talkative. I actually get answers out of him.” Just as he finished saying this, SPiderman came up and peeked his head out from around the glass door, “Umm, Mr. Stark?”

Tony faked a gag at the title, “That- That right there! That’s the one thing I will never be happy with,” he said, walking over to Peter with a grumble as he spoke to them all. “Spidey, what the actual hell is up with you and manners? For the last time, just call me Tony, you’re making me feel as old as Cap’ and the Manchurian Candidate over there.” Peter smiled nervously beneath the mask as he took the two glasses from the engineer, “S-sorry, Mr. Tony, sir…” The others laughed when Tony threw up his hands in indignation and a show of resign, “I give up- he’s too polite. It’s insane how insulted I am that he continues to be nice to everyone.”

“Sorry, but- Mr. Sta- Tony? Um, DUM-E found the extinguisher again…” Tony groaned, “For Pete’s sake-” Peter hid his shuckle at the irony of the pun “-I no longer care if we set a fire, I am throwing out all the fire extinguishers. I’m pretty sure half of the accidents occur because of that little shit and his ‘safety’ precautions.” The others smiled as they watched the tow head back down to the lab.

* * *

At dinner, Peter sat between Pepper and Vision as he ate his spaghetti. He was silent of course as he listened to all the conversations going on, his super hearing catching every tone change and comment. Peter had been trying to work on speaking up more, honest, but it was especially difficult when there were so many people around and he couldn’t focus of small amounts of sounds. He had tried to focus on singular sounds before, but it always failed because if he focused enough, then he wouldn’t be able to hear anything else, which was good naturally except that his luck was bad enough that people would try to gain his attention during those times. As he swallowed another bite, he managed to keep himself from flinching when Pepper suddenly rested a hand on his shoulder. “-all thanks to Spiderman here, of course~”

What? What were they talking about over there again? Oh, that's right, Pepper had been telling Tony, Rhodey, Clint, and Natasha about the deal he had helped out with earlier. Pepper smiled brightly to him as she continued, “Honestly, he probably saved us a few million in the future.” He smiled gently, a small flush creeping to his cheeks as the fives attention directed to him. Peter forgot that his mask was above his nose as he spoke with them. “I-it wasn’t much…” Tony smirked, “You sure there? You’re a great engineer and tech nerd, and you’re great in financing and helping Pepper run my company- Webs, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re looking to take over my company, and I honestly can’t find too many bad outcomes from the idea.”

Peter gaped a bit at the statement. Was he-?! He was joking, right?! It sounded like he was joking, but there was a line of seriousness and trust in his eyes as he looked to him. Peters smile grew sheepish and nervous, “Thanks, but- no thanks. I’d rather  _ not _ be in the spotlight, or have that level of responsibility.” Natasha nodded, “Yeah, I mean- look at you, Stark. You were given the responsibility, and Pepper owns what, like, 70% of your company now?” All those listening laughed at the comment wherase Tony scowled, before the others froze in notice that Peter had also laughed. While the laugh was small and quiet enough to be overlooked, it had still come out. Pepper and Tony had once in a while heard a few short chuckles from him, but half the time they appeared mre tense and forced then real. THis one was real and joyful. How come he could laugh so easily now, but not before?

Tony then noticed that Spiderman's mask was up.  _ So that’s what it was _ . _ Hmm _ … When they finished up, Peter was the first to leave, having pulled down his mask and clocked out early for being tired. After they sounded out a chorus of goodnight and he disappeared, Tony waited a full minute for safety before voicing his realization. “It’s his mask.”

They all looked to him in mixtures of surprise and befuddlement. “The reason we never know he’s smiling or if he laughs, or how he’s ever feeling- it’s all his mask. Did anyone else notice that he sounds more… emotional, when we eat? His mask is pulled over his nose, so his voice isn’t muffled or blocked from emotion. We could actually hear his laugh for once. You all saw that smile- it was 100% joy.”

The others looked shocked and amazed as they realized this. Wanda frowned, “I noticed, but I didn’t do anything because I couldn’t see much, but- With his mask pulled up, I was able to read him more. I can’t read his thoughts or tell if he’s honest or not, but I can see how he’s feeling when he speaks. He was happy when we spoke. He was bashful as well, whenever he was praised. He’s very selfless, and he still seems uncomfortable with so many people around, but he’s much more happy and calm when Pepper or Tony spoke to him directly.” Pepper hid a small proud smile as she tried not to think as to why. Peter trusted Pepper so much, and she was more than happy to have that trust. He spoke to her even more than he did Tony, and he even told her his name. She wished to see what he really looked like, but she supposed that it could wait until they became closer.

Tony frowned, “I wish he would take off the mask. Even if he weren’t to show us his face, I’d kill to just see what's up with the mask. There's obviously some form of technology attache dinside of it, and I’m dying to see what’s goin’ on with it all.” The others nodded, having heard through Tony’s rant over wanting to see and breakdown the whole Spiderman suit, similar to howBruce wanted to do to learn on Spiderman's powers and DNA, seeing as they knew he must be enhanced. In Peters bedroom, Peter laid back on the bed, the eyes on his mask closed to appear asleep despite his state being wide awake. “Karen?”

“Yes, Peter?” Karen's voice sounded out throughout the room. Just days after he had moved into the tower, he had hacked into Friday to keep Tony’s AI from having direct contact with his room. If someone had Friday pull a message through, it would come through Karen, and if someone wanted to know what was happening in his room, Karen would relay an excuse or the truth to Friday to let them know what Peter was doing. Peter was informed whenever anyone asked Friday on him, and he was grateful that he only got an alert possibly once or twice a month, and it was usually to relay a message from Tony to meet him o the others somewhere. Friday knew of Karen, but Peter had a way with AI’s, and Friday wouldn’t inform anyone of Karen or his hacking unless he was directly asked about another AI controlling Peter's room. As far as it went, no one ever entered his room other than Fury probably twice, Clint and Natasha that once where they came through the vents, and Tony once(the man had come to check on him when he hadn’t come out in a long time, and Peter had allowed for Karen to let him in after hiding anything in the room related to his identity). But whenever someone entered the room, Karen would pull Friday into full access of the room to keep from raising vast questions.

“If electricity comes from electrons, shouldn’t it make sense that morality comes from morons?”

There's a short silence before Karen's voice goes serious as she speaks, “Peter, get some sleep. You need it.” He laughed at her reply as he stood up and changed into his pajamas. “I’m just saying, it makes sense! Like- is it called studying because  _ students _ feel like  _ dying _ as they do it?” he said the last part as he curled into bed. As soon as he did, there was a pregnant pause before Karen just turned off the light, “I refuse to answer any of your ridiculous inquires at this hour, you’ll make me have some sort of dysfunction. Good night, Peter~” He smiled as he laid down, “Good night, Karen.”

Karen started to play soft piano music in the background to help him sleep, knowing he loved the sound of it.


	2. Invincible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “M’ still straight, Wade,” Peter reminded him. Wade sighed in fake disappointment, “And apparently illegal, such a shame~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Duuuuuuude!
> 
> I am so happy that you all love this! Please continue reading and leaving more and more reviews~

“Good morning, Peter~” Karen spoke through the walls in her usual melodias voice. “You asked for me to wake you at about noon, so as the caring and helpful AI that I am- I’m waking you up five hours earlier at a reasonable waking hour!”

Peter smirked at his AI’s sassiness as he pulled up rubbed at his face and opened his eyes. He’d been trying to show more trust with the others living in the tower, so about a month ago he had stopped wearing his mask to bed and it was much more comfortable. “Morning, Karen. Are the others in the dining room already?”

“Yes. Mr. Stark had informed Friday to ask you to join them if you woke up at a reasonable hour,” she replied. Peter nodded as he brought himself to a stand and walked to the bathroom. “Right. Have Friday tell them I’ll be down in ten.” Peter quickly got ready and changed into his suit, thinking he’d do a patroll to Queens. It had been nearly two weeks since he had last left to check up on the area, and he was starting to miss it. He’d have a quick breakfast and head out.

When he arrived to breakfast, the others were just getting started on Steves omelettes. The super soldier looked to Peter and smiled, “Mornin’, Webs. Got you two omelettes right here.” Peter gave a quiet thank you as he sat down and began to eat. When he was near finishing, he looked to Tony, “I’m going out again after this.” Tony nodded, “Sure thing. Doin’ a patrol?” Peter nodded as he finished up and took his plate to the sink. “Okay, just try to make it back by dinner this time. Last time, we couldn’t get ahold of you and nearly sent out a search party.” Yeah, Peter could remember that. He got held up in a fight and managed to come back just in time to find everyone suited up and freaking out until he made his presence known. Tony had ordered he tell them next time, because he had closed himself off before for about a week and Friday had told them that he wasn’t in his room, so they had all panicked.

He patrolled around Queens for a few hours, going over places a few times over to make sure it was all clear. He helped Mrs. Sadnberg cross the street and she insisted that she give him one of the churros she had bought, and he returned a mothers stolen purse. He did several muggers some good and he stopped a kidnapping before they could even grab the kid, but for some reason, he felt happiest when he rescued a small kitten from a tree and handed it back down to a small five year old. The girl had kissed her kittens head and looked up to him with overjoyed eyes, “Thank you so much, Mr. Spiderman!”

Peter now sat on top of an old downtown theatre, it having gone out of business years before his time. He sat there silently listening as Karen played music through his mask. Peter didn’t know when he had closed his eyes, but when he opened them up, it was about two hours before dinner. Letting out a huff, he brought himself to a stand and gave a light stretch. “Karen, do another sweep of the streets. We’ll look over anything new before headin’ back to the tower and then-” He cut off when his Spidey Sense flared suddenly, and he jumped ten feet to the side, just in time to dodge a giant ball of red and black from hitting him. “SPIDEY!”

Peters eyes widened as the ball of excitement had missed and fell off the roof, hitting the ground below with a thud and a small “Well that was rude.” His eye twitched as he rushed to the side of the building to look down in his bewilderment. “Wade?!”

Deadpool grumbled as he sat up with crossed legs on the ground and threw up a pout, “Well who else would try to jump you?” Peter felt a smile split across his face as he jumped down and helped the mercenary to a stand. “Wha-?! Wade, you’re back! When did you return?!” THe older man chuckled and pat him on the head, “Just a day ago or two. I would have stopped by to say hi, but I doubted the Avengers would be all that happy with my visit.”

PEter felt his mouth go dry when he realised that Wade knew he now lived with the Avengers. “Did you know-” Wade interrupted him with a hug, but it was a real one that was full of sorrow and understanding. “About May and Ben? Yeah kid, I heard…” There was a short silence before Peter broke down. He cried hard in the man's arms, it being the first time he did it infront of anyone besides Karen. Wade carefully removed their masks and pat Peter calmingly as he cried. “It’s alright, baby boy. Just let it all out.” Peter did. He cried and cried, not sure why he felt so happy that he was able to do it for once without fear of being seen.

“I- i shouldn’t ca- cry-! It, it was my, f-fault, and I-” He cut himself off more with his sobs and by Wade tightening his grip. “Nah, kiddo. It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.” Peter wanted to argue his words, but he couldn’t through his sobs. When he had eventually calmed down, the two dropped by Delmars and picked up some sandwiches and chips before sitting atop the deli as they ate.

Peter swallowed the bite in his mouth, “So, how was Mexico?” He chuckled when Wade groaned in his annoyance, “Oh my god, don’t even get me started! Do you know if it’s a law to go around saving people while wearing spandex? ‘Cause it is in Mexico!” Peter laughed at the thought of Wade getting chased for being a hero simply for his dress style. “Don’t’ laugh! It was awful, they probably have it on youtube by now- ‘Deadpool gets shot in Puebla for leaving little to the imagination’! It’s not my fault that I’m ripped and they don’t want me to show it!”

They both chuckled. “So, is Matt back also? You both went together, didn’t you?” Wade nodded, “Yeah, but the guy took a case over the drug cartel we stopped, and is just finishing it off. I planned to stay and keep him company, seeing as the loner needs it, but I got bored and thought I’d come and pay my favorite little brat a visit.”

Peter smiled shyly as he side hugged the other vigilante. “Thanks… I love talking to Karen, but it’s nice to be able to speak with someone else every now and then.” “What, the Avengers don’t have any good stories to tell for you to go night-night?”

“Well…” He had Tony and Pepper to talk to, and once in a while the Hulk. However, he still wasn’t comfortable enough with them. He didn’t want any of them to know about his past, and the more he spoke with them, the worse of a chance he had at keeping his life under wraps. He enjoyed speaking with Pepper and being called by his real name, and he liked talking to the hulk and being able to take off his mask. He would never admit it, but he absolutely loved spending time with Tony and being able to expose his true nature, bit by bit. But he couldn’t ever show himself. He couldn’t let anyone know who he really was. “Sort of, but it’s hard. I can’t let them know my identity, so I have to be carefull. I say a single meme, and now Mr. Stark knows that I’m under the age of thirty. I can’t let them learn much else. They’d flip if they learned how old I am, or about all the shit I’ve dealt with.”

Wade nodded as he contemplated this, “True. Matt wasn’t all that happy with knowing a 9 year old was goin’ around stopping rapists and kidnappers. I on the other hand still find it awesome. I mean, come on! Look at the youth of today, not givin’ two fucks what others think, and yet you’re going arounf savin’ people ranging from kittens to midwifes!” Peter nodded, knowing that he was grouped in the rare category of teens that put others above themselves. Suddenly, Karen's voice spoke loudly from his mask on his lap. “Peter? Mr. Stark is expecting your return by dinner. The Avengers are all starting to make their way to the dining room as we speak, and I am positive that it will take less than ten minutes for Mr. Stark to suppose that you have been injured or abducted.”

Peter rolled his eyes and Wade laughed. “Ah man, the guys basically a dad! Well, you heard the sexy voiced AI, hop to it, bug. You’ll probably burn off that sandwich on your way back anyways. The empire, next Thursday?” Peter smiled warmly as the two came to a stand, “Of course. And Wade? It’s great seeing you again…” Wade pretended to cry as he hugged Peter and pat his head affectionately, “Aww~ You’re so adorable, I could just eat you up! However, I’ve killed a few cannibals in my time in Mexico, and I’d rather not be more of a hypocrite than I already am.” Did Peter even want to ask? “See you around, brat!”

Peter and Wade put their masks back on and fled back to their respective homes. When Peter arrived at the compound, he jumped through the window and landed casually in the lounge, walking over to the table as though he hadn’t just flipped through. Sam chuckled at the entrance, “nice to have you back. Enjoy your time out?” Peter found he was still so happy to have his friend back, and his voice came out more chirpy then normal as he replied. “Yeah. Helped a lot of people.” His speech was still short, but his pitch showed a bit more pep in it. Tony noticed as Peter took his seat beside him.

“Someones awfully cheerful,” Pepper elbowed Tony in the side, a show for him to not question Peters cheeriness. He smiled back to the engineer, “Met up with an old friend.” There was a deafening silence as everyone, even Pepper, stared at Peter in shock. He didn’t pay it any mind as he grabbed a plate and his serving on Steves spaghetti and garlic bread. Natasha was the first to snap out of her stupor and she smiled shortly t him. “A friend, you say?” “Mm-hmm.” “Do they- know you’re Spiderman?”

Peter shrugged casually, “‘S how I met him.” Pepper smiled brightly as she walked over and grabbed her own food as well. “Oh! Will you possibly invite him over? We’d love to meet him?” Peter thought about it, “Not sure. Maybe.” With that, he lifted his mask a bit and started eating. Near the end of dinner, Tony was getting antsy. Everyone headed off to bed by about ten o’clock, but Tonyand Pepper stayed behind with Peter as they watched a movie. Pepper was huddled close to Tony with her head rested back against his shoulder, and Peter sat on the couch nearby. When the movie ended, Peter just layed back more and made himself comfortable. Tony smiled in hidden victory at the action, knowing it meant that Spiderman didn’t feel like sleeping and would stay up tonight.

Tony came to a stand and grabbed some coffee for the three of them. Pepper hadn’t joined them for these late night talks much, maybe once or twice, but her presence made thing seven more comfortable for the vigilante to talk. “So, Webs,” Tony started, “Who’s this friend you mentioned?” Peter watched the credits roll before Pepper turned on another movie. “He’s been gone to Mexico for a year, and just came back yesterday.” Pepepr smiled to him, “Are you two close?”

PEter smiled fondly as he thought on it. Wade was one of his three best friends, counting Mat and Karen. Peter had met him when he heard gunshots and ended up saving Deadpool's life as he tried to stop a gang of guys from robbing his favourite bar. The two had talked for hours as they walked the streets, and Wade basically became his big brother. Just a few weeks later, he introduced him to Matt. The three had gotten along great, and had jokingly formed Team Red. “Yeah… He’s like an older brother; protective and annoying as crap.” Tony laughed at his answer while Pepper rolled her eyes at his language. Tony handed them their cups as they all sat down again.

“You gonna hang out with him more?” “Mm-hmm. We used to hang out a lot before he and another friend of mine left the country, but we’re gonna meet up on thursday, and then hang out every now and then.” Pepper nodded as she reached over and pat his shoulder in almost a motherly way, “Alright. We just want to know so that we’re informed incase you go off and we don’t know where.” Tony smiled as he watched the two interact. Pepper was such a mother, and despite the fact that they didn’t even know Spidermans age, they both still looked to him as though he was a child they wanted to care for and protect.

Peter wouldn’t tell them, but he knew they felt this way, and he felt the same. He had never met his real parents, but he knew that Pepper and Tony would be the perfect candidates. Deep down, Peter wished that they were really his parents, and he felt horrible for having such a selfish desire. Anyone he even remotely cared for got killed and it was always his fault(with the exceptions of Wade and Matt who he was pretty sure were immortal and wouldn’t die simply cause they just didn’t care). He didn’t want to put the Avengers at risk of his curse, and he especially didn’t want Pepper and Tony to become hurt because of him. All of this reminded him of just how selfish his wish was, wanting them to be his parents.

Stupid…

Partway into the second movie, Pepper fell asleep, and Tony and Peter were just talking over a project that Tony wanted them to try together. The mechanic smiled down to his wife. “Pepp’s asleep, so she won’t get on us for staying up late and working- what do you say we go down to work in the lab?” Peter quickly agreed, and the two ended up working until breakfast the next day. Pepper called them up with a hint of annoyance but fondness, and the two joined the others up in the dining room and lounge.

Tony immediately grabbed them coffee, “Hey, Brucie-Bear, guess what? Underoos here took a look at the polymer fiber we’ve been trying to break down for the past month, and he was able to figure it out for us in literally a glance. As it turns out, it was one of his own.” Bruce choked on his bite of waffle and looked to Peter in bewilderment, “Wha-what?!”

Peter nodded casually as he took his coffee gratefully, “It was one of my original formulas for my webs.” Nobody noticed it right away other then Tony and Natasha, but Peter had just given away a big hint on his powers. Pepper smiled and pat his shoulder in a relaxing gesture as she placed his plate of waffles in front of him, “I knew you were smart, but you must be a natural born genius to have made it so complex to stump those two.” Peter shrugged casually, “Not really. I made it in AP Chemistry back when I was still in highschool.”

At saying this, Tony spat out his coffee and Natasha had to help Bruce from nearly choking again before the two rounded on him and yelled in offended horror, “WHAT?!” The others laughed as Peter didn’t even bat an eye at the two supposed geniuses. Tony spluttered while Bruce looked faint, “What the hell are you talking about?! You made that from school supplied chemicals?! We’ve been trying to break that formula down for nearly a month, Webs!”

Natasha frowned a bit before turning to Peter with her eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Hold on… High school? How long have you been Spidering?”

A heavy silence weighed down on the entire room as everyone held their breath in anticipation. No one ever got away with asking personal questions other than Tony and Pepper. Peter stopped to stare blankly back at the ex-assassin. Everyone watched as the two arachnid heros battled in their stare off. After a bit, Peter shocked them by breaking the thick silence with a calm voice, “Longer then you would like to believe…” With that, he silently turned back to eating his food. To the others surprise, Natasha seemed satisfied by his answer as she smiled and continued as well, “Hmm.”

* * *

He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that he had told them that. Peter layed back on his bed, looking up to the white ceiling with a face that represented both pride, and disgust. He felt these things to himself. He was proud that he had opened up to the others enough, but he was disgusted with himself for being so selfish by doing so.

Why had he tried to share with them? What made him think that he was aloud to open up to them that much, and speak with them so casually as he did? He didn’t have the right to be happy with them as it was, so this was breaking the limit. Peter didn’t get the option to try and have a real relationship with any of them. They may have their problems, but Peter could see that they were all a big, happy, loving family. He couldn’t and would never be apart of that.

_ You don’t deserve them. _

That’s right. He didn’t deserve their trust, their protection- their love. He would only get them killed in the end, whether it was by his own hands or not.

_ You shouldn’t be here. _

Here? Funny, but the truth was- Peter shouldn’t be anywhere. He didn’t even think he had the right to live. Why should he live when he had killed those who truly deserved to live?

_ You shouldn’t live. _

He shouldn’t… but he couldn’t change that, now could he?

_ You can. _

News flash- Peter couldn’t kill himself. No matter how hard he had tried in the past, it was either his super healing, or someone else being there that stopped him in the end. He had tried shooting himself in the head, and when he had woken up, the bullet had gone right through and his Spiderbite had put all its power into helping him. He had jumped off a building before, but he had woken up on the side of the street to find that his body had fixed him up and he would only be sore for a week. That one time he tried to drown himself? As it happened, Karen wasn’t all up to listening to him at that time and had alerted Wade and Matt to save him. He just couldn’t catch a break. At the moment, suicide just seemed an annoyance to him.

_ You don’t deserve to anywhere, correct? Then go nowhere. Run away, and leave it all behind. _

And deal with the guilt? Tempting. Have Wade and Matt and possibly even the Avengers track him down even all the way to the mon? Not so tempting. Besides, Peter would just be going in circles. There would always be someone that he took a liking to, or the reverse. Someone will  _ always  _ die.

_ Why do you care? _

Because that's just who Peter is. He cares too much, and that’s what makes him come too close. That’s what causes him to kill people.

_ Then stop. Stop caring. You are capable of hate. Let it control you, just as it had years ago… _

Hate. Peter used to be controlled by that. If he did it again, could he-

“Peter?”

His eyes snapped open, having closed at some point that Peter couldn’t remember.

“Peter,” Karen spoke out carefully, “You are not well. You are suffering from a fever of 102.3 degrees, and have been dreaming of a nightmare for the past thirty minutes. You do not have any alarming injuries that haven’t been taken care of, but I do suggest that you either speak to Dr. Cho on your fever, or receive medicine.” Peter was sure he could hear the small voice in his head growling at his AI. Peter wasn’t sure if he was glad or upset that Karen cared so much for him.

Peter sat up to feel that he had been sweating from his fever and nightmare, and he started coughing the moment he took in a lung full of air. “You also appear to be suffering from slight dehydration.” What? Peter had coffee just an hour ago? As if reading his mind, Karen said, “You haven’t had proper water in two days, and would need a higher amount then a normal person due to your metabolism.” Oh, that made sense. Whoops.

* * *

Peter had ignored Karens words and had convinced Karen not to worry so much. He promised to grab some medicine the next time he left the room, but he had basically cheated his AI by not leaving the bedroom and bathroom until Thursday rolled around, which was about five days later. When he left the room, Karen wouldn’t stop sounding sarcastic and annoyed with him for tricking her. As he entered the kitchen around lunch time, the others said their hello’s. Tony looked to him curiously, “What’s up, Underoos? You haven’t holed yourself away in a while?”

Peter shrugged helplessly, not speaking as he grabbed himself a cup of water, and apple, and ibuprofen. They all seemed to take immediate notice of his grabbing medicine. Bruce frowned, “Spiderman, are you feeling alright? You don’t ever go down for injuries, and I’ve never seen you need medicine before?”

He shrugged. Great, and here they all thought they had made progress. “Friday,” Tony called out, not wanting to waste time if it was serious, “How’re his vitals?”

There was silence. “Friday?” “Apologies, Boss, but I am incapable of reading Spidermans vitals due to his suit sending a malfunction everytime I try to scan him. If I push too hard, I am sent a virus that I have to focus my mainframe on to prevent from spreading.” They all looked to Peter in shock that his suit could do that. Peter shrugged once more, and half of them had to hold themselves back from strangling him. “Come on, Webs,” Steve spoke calm but firm. “We just want to help. Tell us if you’re alright.”

Peter stared at them before lifting his mask and taking the medicine and drinking his water swiftly. When he had swallowed, he looked to them in indifference. “Small fever. It’s fine now. Heading out.”

With that, he walked past them as he bit into his apple and left out the window. He had only taken a bite of the apple to fool them into thinking he would eat, but the moment he was at a distance from the tower, he spat the piece out on a roof and tossed the offending fruit into a dumpster. Karen grumbled unintelligibly at his actions, but didn’t speak up knowing that he wouldn’t listen. When he had reached the Empire State building, Wade was there waiting for him.

“Hey there, baby buy! How ya doin’?”

Karen basically shouted through the mask for Wade to hear her, “Wade! Will you please have Peter eat some food?! He is also running a fever and refuses to be cooperative!” Peter tried to turn her volume down, but it was too late. Wade wagged a finger to him in fake disappointment.

“Now Petey, what have me and Devil boy told you before? No secrets, remember? That includes hiding any illness, going out in drag without us, and trying pot at a highschool rave. You have yet to do the second one, but I’m still unhappy-” Peter rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t pot, Wade. I tried a cigarette only once, and I didn't know that they had upped it with some more tobacco.” “Still- no hiding fevers!”

Peter grumped as Wade picked him up and took him back to his house, having Peter sit and watch a movie as he just put ramen into a bowl and cooked it in the microwave. As they sat on the couch, Ramen bowls in hand, Wade pointed to Peter accusingly. “Listen here, baby boy; I know you’re gonna try to go all anorexic as your next attempt, but just know that I will happily tell the Avengers to stuff food down your throat and into your scrawny body if I have to. I can’t have that magnificent ass getting all boney on me, now can I?”

“M’ still straight, Wade,” Peter reminded him. Wade sighed in fake disappointment, “And apparently illegal, such a shame~”

Peter ended up staying the night at Wade's house, as the mercenary refused to let him leave while he still had a fever and Karen threatened to make his suit immovable if he tried. The two guys spent a majority of the night binge watching the office though, a show that Wade had now addicted Peter to out of spite because Peter had forced him to watch Star Wars. When morning rolled around, Peter finally went back to the tower around eight o’clock. When he jumped into his bedroom, he didn’t have time to even stand before Karen spoke out through the bedrooms walls.

“Mr. Stark wants Friday to alert him when you return. Are you alright with me letting her know?” Peter sighed and nodded, knowing that they would find out either way so it didn’t matter. In less than ten seconds, Karen informed him that Tony wanted him to come down to the lab to talk. Peter moved his mask over his face again and trudged down the hallways. As he walked through the lounge, Peter ignored as the other Avengers all went silent and watched him walk down to Tony's lab. When he entered, he saw Tony and Pepper sitting at the billionaire's work bench, both whispering to each other.

“-gone all night, Tony! You need to put down rules.”

“Do you actually think he’ll listen to me?! Pep, he’s an adult! It may be my tower, but the Spider doesn’t have to follow our rules. What makes you think he’ll-”

“Spiderman has arrived, boss,” Friday called out, bringing their attention to Peter. Pepper immediately pulled away from Tony and rushed over to Peter, looking to him in slight worry. “P- Spiderman, are you okay? I was so worried when I heard you hadn’t come home last night and then Tony told me how you said you had a fever before jumping out a window! Next time you’re sick,  _ please _ tell me, or Bruce, or Tony, okay?! And where were you last night, you-” Tony smiled fondly as he watched Pepper become so motherly, knowing that she cared so much. Peter on the other hand had stopped listening, looking to Pepper in shock. He was used to Karen's ranting over how much she cares, and he had also had to deal with a few talks from both Wade and Matt, but never from Pepper or the others. He knew that Pepper cared so deeply from him, but it was different when she expressed it as though she were his mother. Peter was grateful for his mask, as it hid back the few tears that slipped out at the form of her caring.

“S-sorry…” he managed out, stopping Pepper in the middle of her rant. The blonde sighed and nodded, “It’s fine, sweetie. Just- try not to keep things in as much, okay? You can come to me or Tony whenever, alright?” Tony nodded his agreeance as he pulled up a chair beside him for Peter. “Come on, underoos. I didn’t call you down for a rant, though I do agree on Peppers words. I need your help on the new gauntlets I’m working on.”

Peter smiled to himself as he allowed Pepper to hug him, and Peter surprised both adults as he returned the hug though he didn’t hold her nearly as tight as she did him. Peppers face was beaming in her joy as she made her way back upstairs, leaving Tony and Peter to their tinkering. 


	3. Save The Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gulped lightly, “Umm… Deadpool is less inappropriate when it’s just us, and D-daredevil is kinder when you get to know him…”
> 
> Okay, he lied on the first part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only short because I wanted to wait for the next chapter for the next stuff. Sorry :)

Peter smiled softly as he sat on the counter in Matt's kitchen, his legs kicking back and forth as he watched his friends quarrel in the living room. Wade held up a few bottles of beer. “Well why shouldn’t he drink?! He’s had alcohol before!”

“That doesn’t make it right in any shape or form!”

Peter chuckled at the common conversation, knowing that no matter who won this time, he would turn down the offer of beer anyways. He watched for another moment before the watch on his wrist vibrated. He pulled it close to his face and tapped the hidden button on the side twice. “Yeah, Karen?” “Mr. Stark is planning to call you in the next twenty seconds.”

If he were a normal person, Peter would ask how Karen knew that before Tony actually started to call, but Peter wasn’t normal, and remembered that he had installed Karen to the entire Tower. Karen most likely picked up on a conversation in the lounge and read between the lines. “Thanks. Any idea what he wants?”

“I believe Mr. Stark is starting to worry over your well being. You have been absent from the tower for a few hours now, and had failed to show up for lunch as was expected. Mrs. Stark has also started to worry, though hers is more easily seen and heard then her husbands.”

Peter wore a slightly fond smile upon hearing this, selfishly grateful to have people who cared for him like parents. Wade and Matt had stopped their bickering and gave teasing “awws” at the message. Wade poked Peters side jokingly, “Well will you look at that? Looks like Petey’s got himself a good set of parents~” Matt chuckled and ruffled at Peters hair, “You aren’t replacing us, are you Pete? And here we thought we could be your gay parents~”

Peter rolled his eyes with a good natured laugh as he grabbed his phone, just in time to hear it ringing. “Shut up! Matt, you aren’t gay, and Wade- I’m not even sure anymore…”

Wade gave a shit eating grin, “I’m back and forth~”

Peter answered and held the phone to his ear, “Mr. Stark?”

He heard Tony let out a sigh of relief, mumbling a “thank god” under his breath before replying. “Hey there, Underoos! Just wanted to check in, see how you’re hangin’ out… That wasn’t a pun, I was being serious.” Peter smiled and stifled a small laugh. “Anywho, Pep and I just wanted to make sure you came back for dinner. You hangin’ out with your friends? Again; not a pun.”

Peter smiled towards Wade and Matt as he watched them grumble over which music was better. “Yeah. I’ll be back for dinner after a quick patrol.”

“Okay, Webslinger. Pepper and Wanda convinced Steve to let them cook tonight, and they’re making homemade pizza. Got any preference?” “Umm… Anything but pineapple.”

Tony faked a gasp, “Finally! You hear that, guys?! Spidey here is my new favorite, the rest of you are all heathens.” Peter heard someone, most likely Rhodey, yell back how Peter was already Tony’s favorite, to which the mechanic didn’t even bother to denty.

After hanging up, Peter and the others agreed to leave for a patrol. The three friends split up and headed to their respective districts, waiting for a crime worthy of all of them. After about half an hour, Wade patched through to them over a group of heavily armed thugs pulling a girl into a van, heading south. Peter shot his webs as quickly as he could, knowing he was the farthest of them from the area. When he arrived to the scene, Wade and Matt stood on top of the now empty van outside of a junkyard barn. Matt gagged at the smell, “Is this a junkyard?” When he received the affirmative, he groaned in disgust, “Gross. Why can’t guys like this ever find a decent hideout? Go to a hotel, or a library, or something! These guys usually have the money for it if they have a large group, so I bet they can afford it!”

Peter agreed. On several occasions when he had to stop Kingpin, the guy was using old construction buildings or abandoned warehouses. He could obviously afford to buy himself a nice looking building, so why didn’t he? Ignoring the issue, Peter had Karen scan the building. “Okay… There’s about eight guys, and they have a girl tied down. Karen says she could be around… 15, maybe. Police haven’t gotten a heads up about this yet, and this is obviously a planned kidnapping. They must not have sent out a ransom yet.”

Wade nodded as they hopped off the vehicle and walked up to the door. “I heard them when they took her. She’s the daughter of a rich diplomat, Alexander White. Her names El-somethin, I think. We should probably help her before they start gettin’ all grabby with her.”

Matt immediately kicked the large doors open, a bored expression outlined simply by the frown he showed. “Yo, jackasses! Mind lettin’ the little lady go?”

They weren’t even given a seconds’ notice before the guns were blazing. Peter shot a web up and dodged while Matt and Wade rolled out of the line of fire. Peter had Karen connect the three comms they all wore. “Wade, Matt, you guys both take out three of them, I’ll take the two and the girl. The guy on the far left has a miniature grenade I’m sure he’s just ready to throw.”

Wade scoffed as he pulled out an atchisson assault shotgun, “How come I can’t rescue the girl?” Matt grumbled as he did a barrel roll to duck the swift bullets. “Because no one should trust you to protect an innocent civilian. Or anyone, for that matter.”

Peter shot up a web and jumped high to the ceiling of the building before diving down to the two men that stayed near the girl. He landed softly onto the ground in front of the girl and shot a web to the guns, not taking them but more so blocking the holes from shooting. His web went deep enough into the guns to create a cushion that would prevent the first bullets. In that time he earned, Peter round kicked one of the men to his back and webbed the feet of the other, using him as a ball on a chain as he tossed him into a stack of probably heavy crates. When the other man tried to come to a stand, Peter had already pulled the guns away and snapped them like twigs before throwing them to the side. He gave a soft enough punch to the guys head to knock him out without causing too much damage.

Peter smiled towards the girl, who looked to him in awe and deep gratitude. Her hair was a deep and natural black, with a few grouped strands dyed red in a fashionable design. Her eyes were a clear blue and a dust of pink filled her cheeks as she stared at him. She was dressed in a red dress that matched her hair dye and a black leather jacket along with converse. Peter easily broke off the handcuffs that held her hands behind the chair and brought the girl to a stand, having him realize that she was just slightly shorter than himself. “Th-thank you…”

He found himself smiling brightly under the mask, “Of course, Miss…?” She brushed her hair back nervously as Wade and Matt walked over, having finished up with their opponents. “E-elizabeth. Elizabeth White…” Wade hit Peter on the back of the head, “Stop flirting. Jesus, what's made you so loving kiddo? Is she your type? Aww~ I’m sure you-”

Peter cut Wade off by turning and punching the guy in the gut, sending him flying into the crates along with the guys he had knocked out. Matt snorted while Peter smiled nervously to Elizabeth's gaping form. “He’s fine, he’s had worse and he deserved it.”

The sirens sounded as Wade walked back over, “Uh- you're welcome?! For once, I’m the one who called the cops to come pick up the slaughter; which I didn’t kill for once! You should both be proud of me…” Matt shook his head, “You only did it cuz’ I told you to.” “That is irrelevant.”

When the police came, there were people with cameras as well. Peter gave Elizabeth to the paramedics as the Police took care of the unconscious abductors. “You're safe now, Elizabeth. Your fathers on his way, and the doctors will make sure you didn’t get hurt or anything. I’ll see you around-”

Peter was cut off as Elizabeth pulled him forward and lifted up his mask just a bit above his nose. Cameras flashed all around and Peter could only freeze in his shock as Elizabeth kissed his now bare cheek. It was a soft press of warm lips which he felt curl a bit into a smile, lying in place for a few seconds before pulling away. She lowered his mask back down slowly, biting her bottom lip shyly as she looked up to his eyes which hid behind the white lenses. “Thank you, Spiderman…”

Peter flushed beneath his mask, most likely sputtering out nonsense as he tried and failed to act cool in the situation until Wade and Matt both grabbed him and waved to the cameras before taking him and fleeing. When the three were in the clear, his friends removed his mask to see he was still mouthing ridiculousness. Wade laughed at his face, “Damn, baby boy! She’s got you whipped in a kiss of the cheek- ha! Oh my god, you’re more innocent than you try to play~”

Peter grumbled as he pulled his mask back on, “Shut up, I was caught off guard… People aren’t ever that grateful to us no matter what we do for them, so getting thanked- and like  _ that _ \- was not something I expected.” Matt nodded a bit, “True. It’s not everyday someone kisses Spiderman as a thank you…”

Peter shakily nodded as they returned to their respective homes. When Peter arrived back to the compound, Pepper and Wande were just pulling out the last three pizzas, the kitchen looking to be a mess of flour and seasonings. Pepper dusted her hands as she rushed towards him by the window. “Spiderman, just in time! Dinners ready, we’re just getting everything ready. Have a seat, sweetie~”

Natasha was sitting on the counter ear Wanda and Clint. She frowned a bit at the mothering attitude between Pepper and Spiderman. “Hey, guys? I know it’s nothing new, seeing as Peppers treated him like this since she met him, but is it a bit strange how easily she acts like a mother towards him?” Clint shrugged as he took the plate Wanda handed him, “What do ya mean?”

Wanda looked to Nat before glancing over to where Pepper was pushing Spiderman to sit and ask if he’s alright from his patrol. “... She has a point. I understand her and Tony’s care,but it is pretty parental. No one even knows how old he is.”

Tony, having heard bits of the conversation on his walk over, regarded them for barely a second as he grabbed three full plates. “I don’t know how old he is, but I know he’s old enough to possibly be my son, which is young enough to allow it.”

Clint smirked as Tony brought the servings to Pepper and Peter. “How old are you? Webs obviously can’t be past his late twenties, but where does that put you from your whole playboy stage?” Pepper rolled her eyes in her annoyance at the mention of her husbands faze. “If Spiderman  _ were _ somehow his son, then he could honestly be back from when Tony was in college, which was about sixteen to twenty years old. He was terrible.”

Peter smiled a bit at the thought. He didn’t even know who his real parents were, so entertaining the idea of Pepper and Tony as his birth parents was amusing to him, as well as sweet. He would be perfectly happy with the notion if it were true. 

They all talked almost animatedly for the rest of the night, Peter smiling to himself as he managed to listen to every single conversation, even when about five of them talked over one another. Whenever the attention was pointed towards him, he would give a shy and short answer, and was grateful when his replies were always accepted for their lackluster in excitement. For a bit, Pepper spoke to him with a hushed voice so that they could speak to each other singularly, and he was more than happy to engage fully with her. At one point though, Peter started to notice what the others had meant before of their relationships strangeness. Pepper really was motherly to him, and he hadn’t noticed before how it might actually confuse someone to think that she really was his mother. However, it didn’t seem that either she or Tony minded. If anything, they seemed to enjoy it even more on their own realizations.

“Yo, Webs,” Clint called all of their attention to him, finding him looking to the news in surprise. “You didn’t mention the whole kidnappin’ thing, did ya?”

They all watched the news, and Peter internally groaned in his internal anguish as the news decided to have waited to make a spectacle of his actions during patrol. The reporter gave some background information on Elizabeth and her father before going into the kidnapping. When the police had been notified, Spiderman was already at the scene. PEpper smiled to him, “Spiderman, that's great~ You didn’t get hurt or anything though, did you?” He shook his head, and before anymore words could be said, the screen showed footage that had been taken upon arriving to the scene.

It showed Spiderman carefully handing Elizabeth to the paramedics. Everyone in the room went stock still in their shock when it showed Elizabeth lifting his mask partway, before kissing his cheek. There was a short silence before Peter let his head fall back as he groaned. A few whistles were sent his way as well as a few chuckles. “Aww,” Sam teased, “Didn’t peg you to be such a lover-boy, Webs.” Peter grunted back his reply, knowing what was next to come.

Daredevil and Deadpool both appeared into the cameras views as they grabbed Peter by his arms, Wade waving ecstatically to the screen. “Well, that’s all folks! Team Red- OUT!” They ran off, but they didn’t see anymore of the news as Stevehad turned off the television. The entire team looked to Peter as if he had just thrown off his mask and done the chicken dance of the ceiling. Tony stood up and looked to him in near horror. “Daredevil and Deadpool?! These are the friends you hang out with?!”

Peter gulped lightly, “Umm… Deadpool is less inappropriate when it’s just us, and D-daredevil is kinder when you get to know him…” Okay, he lied on the first part. Natasha frowned, “Oh? And I suppose that the fact that they kill people in their heroism is just something to be looked over? Why didn’t you say anything about this to anyone?”

“I knew them years before Fury hired me,” Peter answered. “They helped me out a lot, and I trust them…” There was a short silence before Pepper said what they all realized. “They know who you are?”

Peter shrugged as he stood up and brought his plate to the sink, “They helped  _ make _ me Spiderman. How could they  _ not _ know?”

He ignored their shocked silences as he said his goodnights, thought they were more directed to Tony and Pepper as he left for bed. Upon arriving to his room, Karen turned the lights on dimly and played a soft piano song softly in the background. “Try to get some rest, Peter.” he nodded and layed down, wanting to just ignore the voices that circled in his head. He needed to stop opening himself up so much to them. They were already learning too much. It didn’t matter if he loved Pepper as his mother, or if he wished that Tony was his father; he needed to stop.

He was too tired now though. He wouldn’t treat them like he did when he first arrived, but he wasn’t going to allow himself to open up anymore.


	4. Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You're actually allowing him to hack into SHIELD?!”
> 
> Fury smiled sarcastically bright to them, “If you ever see Spidey's face, you’ll understand why. He convinces you in a single glance.”

Pepper had taken easy notice of how Peter was distancing himself.

Only she and Tony noticed, due to them being the only ones that Peter ever actually talked to, though it took Tony a while to see the change. Peter was still sweet and talkative, and he still spent time with them, but he drew back at times. Pepper had recently gotten to the stage where she would be able to hug him and be able to rest a hand on his shoulder for comfort, and she would constantly see Tony patting his back or giving a side hug.

At first, Peter had gone stiff or stuttered before ignoring the contact, but he soon started to lightly return the affections. He would shy away from their touch before soon returning the hugs or leaning into them.

Now; Peter wasn’t reacting at all. He didn’t show any physical or verbal reaction to their pats or soothing rubs to his back. When Pepper had hugged him, earlier that week, he had remained still and she had noticed how his arms moved to hug back for a second before stilling themselves at his side.

Pepper couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for herself, and the others.

A month back, they had learned that Peter spent his time out with Deadpool and Daredevil. Pepper had been shocked and the worry on her face could have come of as disappointment. She didn’t know if Peter looked to her as a mother figure, though she would be happy if he did, but she was sure that her being disappointed in him would hurt him. Tony had yelled at him for a moment that night, and Pepper had seen heard the slight panic in Peters voice when Tony had stood over him. The exchange had been quick, as Peter had excused himself swiftly before the others could interrogate him, but they had all still been on edge after his departure.

Tony hadn’t gotten that much sleep that night, and they had talked quietly to one another over what they should do. Tony was worried for Peters safety and wanted to make sure that Deadpool and Daredevil were keeping him safe, and she had laughed lightly and pointed out how much of a father he sounded like. Her comment lightened the mood considerably as he smiled to her and held her closer as he replied, “And you act like the overprotective mother. Honestly, I can’t help but think Webs likes it, seeing how easily he responds to us. God- do you think it’s too much? We don’t actually  _ know _ him…”

She had smiled and beckoned him to rest, “We know enough… and when Spiderman is ready to finally open up; we’ll be there for him.”

Peter had holed himself up for two weeks now, only having come out once for a mission in Colorado, but he had fled to his burrow right after returning and only allowing Pepper a moment with him to hug him and ask on his being. Tony had Friday check, and she had said that Peter hadn’t even left the room for a patrol. Pepper didn’t know what was in his room but Tony had said that it was rather bare. What had he been doing in there for so long? Pepper made her way up to Peter's room, knowing that it was best to give him his space, but she couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to see the sweet boy she loved to smother.

As she approached his room, she heard a noise. It was strangely sweet, and rang like bells as it went high and low.

Laughter. Peter was laughing.

Pepper stood near the door and pressed her ear to it, wanting to hear more of the lovely sound. She had only received it on a few accounts, and it was usually more quiet or muffled- never this joyful and unrestricted. He wasn’t trying to hide it from anyone who could see him for who he was. He was just enjoying himself.

“N-not that,” he choked out, trying to calm from his high. “I asked you to play something depressing or sad!” There was a quick silence before Pepper heard the walls play ‘Uptown Funk’ throughout the room, followed by Peters hysterical laughter. “K-karen!”

Pepper felt her blood run cold when she heard a woman speak, “I refuse to let you listen to anything that may cause you distress. Sorry not sorry, Peter, but I’m going to play the most annoyingly peppy and cheerful songs I can locate until you finally exit the room... through the door.” Peter chuckled, “Yeah, yeah~”

Pepper felt herself begin to panic. Who was in the room with Peter?! Who was he talking to and how did that woman, ‘Karen’, get inside without Friday saying anything?! Why was Peter so comfortable with her and how did she have the music resound form the speakers?! As Pepper thought of this, she failed to notice the music had come to an abrupt halt and that the door handle was turning. She straightened up when Peter answered, his mask showing his surprise.

“Mrs. Stark?” She hid her relief at seeing he was alright.

“It’s just Pepper, Peter,” her face lifted to a soft smile upon seeing him nervously look around the hall upon hearing his true name. “It’s alright, it’s just us. The others all went on a mission a few hours ago, and Tony thought you could use a short break. I- I was wondering if… you would like to spend some time with me? It’s been a while since we had our visits, and I hoped that we could do something together?”

Peter seemed to think on it for only a moment before nodding his head in agreeance. “S-sure. Will we be in the tower, or…?”

Peper shrugged lightly, “Whatever you want, sweetie.” She wasn’t sure, but she could see the sides of his mask lift slightly at the cheeks, a hint that he was smiling. “Sure! We could maybe go into the park area behind the compound? I’ll just quickly change.”

When he closed the door behind him, Pepper left to the living room. “Friday? Who was Spiderman speaking to in his room?” Pepper wanted to know who Peter had snuck into his room, or if the person had snuck in themselves. “I do not have any records of anyone other then Spiderman inside of his room.”

Pepper froze in her steps, her jacket half way on as she looked up in shock. “What…? Who started the music then? Who is Karen?” There was another silence before Friday responded: “I have no records of any music being played or any other life form inside of Spiderman's room.”

Huh. That was concerning. Pepper was sure that she hadn’t imagined it. Karen…

Pepper pulled out her phone and called Tony, “Hey, Friday? Alert me when Spiderman exits his bedroom?” “Of course, ma’am.”

Something was going on. She tapped her foot impatiently until Tony finally picked up. “Pep? What’s up, baby? Everything okay?” She nodded, before recalling that he couldn’t see the movement of affirmation. “Umm, yeah. Tony, Friday has access to P- Spiderman's room, correct?”

Tony was currently sitting between Steve and Bruce on a quinjet, the phone on speaker as his head laid back in his laziness. “Yeah, why? Did Underoos escape again?” “No, but- Tony, someone was inside of his room…” Everyone on the quinjet went quiet, now giving Tony’s phone their full attention. Tony looked up and frowned deeply at that. “What? Who? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I walked up to his room and heard- Tony, I heard him laughing. Not like how he does with us, but actually full on, joyously laughing! He asked for some woman named Karen to play depressing music, and she turned on ‘Uptown Funk’-” Clint, Sam, and Wanda had to hold back laughs and snorts. “-and told him she wouldn't do as he said until he walked out the door. I asked Friday but she said that she didn't have any record of any music or person in his room!"

That; was concerning. Tony frowned deeply. Friday couldn't be wrong, but neither could Pepper. While Friday was his own creation, he would always trust Pepper over his AI's. "I'll check Fridays system when we come back. See if you can get Spiderman out of the room for a bit, keep him around you until we return."

"Already on it. We're going to be spending some time outside. Hurry back, okay?"

The conversation came to a screeching halt as Friday announced that Spiderman was coming. Pepper hung up and smiled cheerfully towards him as he entered in a pair of denim black jeans, a white shirt, and a light blue jacket. "All ready?"

She nodded and couldn't help the slight skip in her steps as she walked beside him out of the tower, her arm locked with his own as they stepped outside. They walked along the grass, passing a few people that waved to them.

A group of kindergartners were having a field trip to the Avengers Tower, and the kids all squealed upon seeing Peter. Pepper watched fondly as Peter answered their questions and lifted them up. One of them asked Peter if his mask was apart of his face, and he happily laughed.

"No, but that would be pretty awesome, wouldn't it? I wear it all the time to protect my secret identity, so that I can protect those that I love."

It was a simple and commonly associated answer that a lot of heroes gave, so why did it stick out to Pepper? She knew that Peter didn't have anyone else left, most likely, seeing as he was always with them or Team Red. So why did she feel that his answer was more true then it sounded to be?

When the class left, Pepper and Peter continued their walk, talking about SI and the work they did for SHIELD. Pepper had known that Fury was close to Peter but it hadn't ever crossed her mind of how close the man was with her sweet boy. "How long have you and Fury been working together?"

She knew it was a good sign to show that she wasn't crossing a line when Peter barely showed a reaction to the question presented. "Years. I was honestly a kid when he and I first met. I was going through some stuff as Peter, and Fury was able to help me figure some stuff out. The dude is like an uncle who tries to hide the fact he cares for you despite all the birthday cards he sends."

Pfft- That had not been an expected answer, but Pepper was happy with it. "I see… So, Peter? Other then engineering, and science; what else interests you? And no, vigilantism isn't an acceptable answer."

He snapped his fingers in fake dismay. "Aww, shoot. That was one of my getaway answers," he chuckled before thinking about it for a moment, "Well, I guess I'm just rather ordinary other than that, aren't I? I can't cook for the life of me and can set a pot of water on fire, little heads up, and I'm honestly surprised I haven't accidentally poisoned myself. Hmm, I guess I like to read and listen to music a lot? I honestly can't fall asleep without music in the background, and nearly everything I know comes from books."

Pepper stiffened slightly as she recalled that 'Karen' had been the one to play his music. "Oh? What do you listen to?" "Honestly anything, but I prefer piano for when I'm falling asleep. I know a bit myself but I haven't played since forever."

Peppers mood turned to bright at the comment, "Oh? That's amazing! You know, Tony knows piano quite a bit. Maybe the two of you can practice together some time?" She wanted to have Peter open up more, not wanting him to start to close himself off. Her words seemed to have him think for a moment. "Maybe…"

When the others came back, Peter was keeping Pepper company as she cooked chili, cornbread, and onion rings. Peter was telling Pepper of the old extracurriculars he did when he was in highschool. ”-tics, and also decathlon. I helped win my school about 3 or 4 trophies before I decided to skip my last years. I was ahead enough and I didn't find much need to stay in."

Pepper smiled towards Tony as the others left to change and he walked over, having already changed into more casual wearing. "That's amazing, sweetie! I'm sure all of your teachers loved you~"

Tony pat him on the back as he sat beside him. "Of course they did, right Underoos? Who wouldn't love this little web slinger? What was it you were saying you did?"

Pepper smiled proudly as she pulled out a stack of plates. "He was in a lot of clubs, Hun. Robotics, band, track, wrestling, and decathlon. He graduated early but from what I gathered, he could have done so much earlier than he did. Spideys also good at the piano, and I was thinking maybe the two of you could play together once in a while?"

Peter nervously looked to the older hero. "If you want to, that is…"

Tony smiled softly at this and have him a side hug, not at all surprised when the gesture was only leaned into and not fully reciprocated. "Of course, bud. How about after dinner? We can shock the hell out of the others."

Tony knew his offer was most likely pushing something. Peter would probably agree if it was just the two or three of them, but with the others… "Umm, c-can it just be us? I don't know about the others, but… If it's just you and Pepper…"

His wife smiled to him before patting Peters shoulder, "Of course, sweetie. Whatever makes you comfortable." Peter nodded as the others returned to have dinner. Everyone kept an eye on Peter, all curious and nervous as to what had happened with 'Karen'. They didn't directly ask him anything on it, and they waited until he left before speaking on the matter. 

Natasha looked to Tony, "Do you have cameras installed to his room?"

Tony sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "In a sense. Fury ordered that there not be any for anyone to see through, so the ones in his room are only for Friday to be able to pick him out. I wouldn't be able to see anything if I wanted to unless I were to actually go in and set up new cameras." Steve grumbled, "Should we try asking Fury? Do you think he'd know?"

Tony shrugged, "It's not a matter if he would know, it's if he'd even tell us if he knew. The guy knows Spiderman better than anyone, to the point where I'm trying not to get jealous. If Spidey asked, Fury would happily keep us in the dark in anything and everything." Hell, Fury had said this to them himself.

"Well, no harm in trying.”

Moments later, Pepper and the team found themselves in the conference room, pulling Fury up on the big screen. The man was sitting at a large desk, with SHIELDS logo behind him. “What.” It wasn’t even a question, which just went to show how annoyed he was on a regular basis.

Clint smiled sarcastically, “Aww, did we wake the grumpy pirate up from his nap?” “Did you call me just to get me to fire you all, because I will. I can get by with just Spiderman.”

Sam threw up a hand as though insulted, “There's the proof! The guy would choose Webs over us in a heartbeat.” “And it makes me smile getting to admit it,” Fury said, wearing a short grin to prove his point. “Now what do you want? This about Spiderman? I noticed you left him out in your call for early retirement.”

Pepper brought his attention to her, “Fury. Do you know who Karen is?”

There was a loud silence. They all knew the answer when Fury stared at them with no emotion displayed as he seemed to look down on nearly every one of them. “...Did Spiderman tell you about her, or did you learn of her on your own?” No one answered and Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Dammit, kid… Don’t worry on Karen, alright? How did you learn about her?”

“I heard her speaking to Spiderman in his room, and she managed to avoid any of Fridays detection.”

Fury seemed about ready to curse someone out before calming himself. “Relax, Karen wasn’t physically in the tower. Spiderman talks to her through his phone, which he hooked up to his room. Friday didn’t hear of her because Spidey didn’t allow her to. He allows Friday to have contact with him, but he told me it makes him uncomfortable knowing that she had eyes on him, so I gave him my permission to keep her from having direct access to his bedroom.”

Tony spluttered at that, “Hold up- did he  _ hack _ my AI?!”

“Basically,” he smiled almost giddily at the shocked faces that spread across the room. “Oh, don’t be offended, Stark. Here’s what little background I can give you; Spideys been coding and hacking since he was elementary school age. I knew him since he was basically a toddler, and the kid hacked SHIELD when he was about eight or nine years old, and that was honestly only the first of many times he did it.” Huh. Tony and Pepper were shocked to a near horrified degree, but while Peter wasn’t actually theirs, they couldn’t help but swell with pride and think how it was  _ their _ Peter who had done that.

On the other hand, and while Tony felt it too, Pepper was the main one who felt slightly depressed knowing that she hadn’t seen Peter grow up. He was an adult now, and while she wished to look at him as if he were her own son, Pepper knew that she couldn’t possibly be his mother. He had his own mother, though they were all positive he didn’t anymore. He was his own person now, and he had parents before. He had a family before. Even if they were lucky enough to have Peter look at them as if parent figures, he was old enough to not need it.

Natasha reigned their thoughts in as she spoke up next, “Who is Karen though, Fury? Is she a SHIELD agent? Will we ever meet her? How does she know Spiderman?”

Fury actually seemed to think on his answer. “She doesn’t directly work for SHIELD, though me and Spidey do have control over her orders and rules. If you ever meet her, it would most likely be on Spideys terms. If you ever have contact with her other then through Spiderman, then you’ll know she’s speaking to you behind his back only for a matter of importance that may harm or threaten him. Karen… is honestly one of the last things Spiderman has left to a family. He had her, in a sense, before I met him, Honestly, she’s scary as hell for what she’s capable to do, and I know that if you meet her, she’ll scare the shit out of you if you ever mistreated Spiderman. She’s basically his mother," that stung Pepper a bit, “but they both prefer her being his overprotective sister. She’s nothing to be worried about, unless you did something to piss her off.”

Pepper still had a tightening feeling in her heart as she was brought to the fact that Peter most likely did have others he depended on, and this Karen was his maternal figure. While Fury said they referred to it as though siblings, the way he had described it sounded similar to a mother. Before anything else could be said, Friday called out to them. “Boss? Spiderman is asking for you and Lady Boss in the lounge.”

Fury gave a short humph, “Tell the idiot I told him to smile more when he puts his mask up, or else I’m taking away his backdoor privileges.” This got them looking to him in shock before Bucky said what they all were thinking, “You're actually allowing him to hack into SHIELD?!”

Fury smiled sarcastically bright to them, “If you ever see Spidey's face, you’ll understand why. He convinces you in a single glance.”

* * *

Fury frowned at his computer after having hung up. He typed a few things away on the screen before Karen was pulled up through his speaker. "Yes, Agent Fury? Would you like for me to patch you through to Peter?"

He shook his head, "No, I was calling for you actually. I know you and Peter hacked Friday so that she'd tell you both if someone asked of Peter?"

"Are you inquiring about when Pepper Stark had inquired on me earlier today?"

Fury waited, his silence telling the AI to continue. "I was alerted before Peter and intercepted just before he could be informed. I gave Friday the answers she was to tell and have yet to inform Peter of anyone knowing of me."

Fury would be lying if he said he was surprised by the AI's actions, "Will you tell him?"

"Not unless he specifically asks me if the others know of my being, and even then I might just lie to him. I wish to protect Peter with all my given power, but I know that the Avengers will keep him safe, whether or not he sees that yet. You, Matt, and Wade, are the only ones other than myself that he truly opens himself up to. He already looks to Pepper and Tony Stark as his parents; he just needs to admit it, and accept it as his reality. If I have to push him to recovery, then I will.”

“...I agree, and you have my full permission to use any means you deem necessary,” Fury replied, his face softening in a way that only Peter and the AI had seen in his past years. “I want the kid to have the family he never got… The one he got taken from.”

* * *

Tony smiled as he looked to Peter, watching as he and Pepper laughed and raced on Mario Kart. Pepper was in second place as Princess Daisy while Peter was in third as Yoshi. The kid kept on leaning in front of Pepper to block her view, only for her to laugh as she stood up to see that he had passed her.

It was late at night, but it was fine. At these moments, he felt happiest to think of them all as a family, despite the facts that pointed it out as otherwise. When Pepper won, she side hugged Spiderman as he pouted. “Cheaters never prosper, kiddo~” She sat next to Tony and leaned against his side with a pleasant sigh. “When will you be going on patrol next?”

Peter handed the other remote to Tony and they both selected their racers. “In a few days, but I was hoping I could go hang out with Daredevil tomorrow? I can text you both when I’m done?” It took Tony and Pepper only a few seconds to realize why his statement came in the form of a question.

He was asking for their permission.

He wanted them to know where he’d be and wanted to know if they’d let him go, almost like he was their son. Pepper tried her best to not lunge forward and hug him senseless, while Tony held back a cheer of joy. “O-of course bud, you can go.” Peter smiled beneath his mask before nodding and looking towards the screen as the match started.

“...Hey, Mr. St- Umm, Tony?”

“Yeah, Underoos?”

Peter glanced to the two adults nervously again, “Umm, F-fury texted me a bit ago…” Both seemed to stiffen until Tony huffed in annoyance, “That little snitch.”

Peter blinked in surprise at that, “Uhm, okay, so I don’t know what that was about, but- he said he wanted me to come by his office tomorrow,” he pretended not to notice their look of relief and wondered what it was they were afraid that Fury had told him, “so I just wanted to let you know I’d be gone for that after I hang out, but I should be back for dinner.”

Tony nodded, “Sure thing, Webs. Do me a favor; tell Fury that he’s gonna need a ship before he can go pirating. A Quinjet doesn’t really work for the swashbuckling theme.”

Pepper hit his arm lightly while Peter smiled beneath his mask, “Sure~” They played the game for a few more rounds before calling it a night. Pepper hugged Peter tightly before sending him off to bed. “Goodnight, sweetie.”

Once he was out of their sight, Tony and Pepper waited a few moments before sneaking over to his room, and they waited at his door for what they expected to hear. It only took a few moments before Karen's voice spoke out, “Do you know why Nick Fury wishes to speak to you in person tomorrow?” Tony tensed at the voice, knowing that all that Pepper had told him was true, but it was still shocking to hear ‘Karen’ himself.

They heard Peter sigh before hearing him most likely flop onto his bed. “I don’t know, Karen. It might be important, but it could also just be him telling me to liven up or become more involved with everyone. I get why he does it, but he should also understand that it’s hard for me...”

“...You know they are all here for you. Especially Mr and Mrs. Stark. You can rely on more than just me, Fury, and Team Red; the Avengers are all there for you, and they want to be. Get some rest, alright? Knowing you, you’ll be swinging to meet up with Daredevil, so you’ll need your energy. Everything will be fine..”

“Oh come on, just another hour?”

“I won’t do anything you say until you wake up after at least seven hours of sleep. Good night~” He chuckled before pulling at the blankets in his room, “Good night, Karen.”

They heard silence for no more than a second before soft piano music flowed through the room to soothe Peter to sleep, and the two adults could only look to one another with mixed emotions. They were somewhat relieved to hear that Karen cared for him, and they were happy that she had told him he could look to them(especially the two of them). However, it still hurt them inside, knowing that despite how much Peter had opened up to them in the past year, he was too closed off to tell them all that others knew.

And Tony pretended not to be offended how Fury of all people was favored over him to receive Webs’ identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review!  
I won't post the next chapter until this series reaches about 45 reviews or so, maybe...
> 
> No pressure.


	5. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah. Daredevil wants me to stop by tomorrow, Sunday morning; but I'm gonna wait until about 11 to show up. The guy thinks he’s clever enough to trick me into going to Mass with him.”
> 
> Pepper chuckled at how he phrased it, “Not very religious?”
> 
> Peter shrugged, “I never really cared for it. Besides, the people who raised me as a kid were Russian, so if anything; I might be Russian Orthodox. Either way, I refuse to go simply because of the fact that he somehow keeps tricking me into volunteering to read aloud. It’s humiliating…”

Matt hummed a light tune to himself as he finished with his tie, feeling it carefully to make sure that it was tied accurately. He reached to the couch beside him and grabbed his coat jacket as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, reminding him of the time. He whistled the rest of his tune as he walked to the large window near the couch and casually opened it wide, stepping away and tapping his foot along with his whistling. After a few seconds, a whoosh sounded past him from the window, and he heard a slight tumble onto the ground beside him.

“About time, kiddo.”

Peter stood and smiled to him, “Dude, I’m like- five seconds late!” “Still late.”

Pater pulled off his mask and stuffed it into his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. He was wearing casual clothes and looked to his phone to fix his hair, having rushedly thrown on his mask in his haste to leave the tower on time. “Yeah, well, the others wanted me to stick around longer for breakfast.” Matt nodded as he was handed his walking stick and he fixed up the collar of his jacket, taking a hunch that it had been messed up by the rush of wind Peter had caused when he swung through. The kid locked an arm with him as they left the large building, walking off into the streets of Manhattan.

“So, hows Page doing? I’d call her Karen, but that’s just weird for me.”

Matt scoffed as they stopped at a crosswalk, “She’s up my ass about inviting you to her place for dinner, but without Wade. She likes you, tolerates me, and would kill Wade if presented the opportunity.”

Peter nodded in understanding, remembering how Karen Page always got pissed for the sex jokes the two men would happily crack together to purposefully piss her off. “So, good then? Tell her I said hi, but I’m afraid I won't be able to come without my inappropriate escort. She can have you alone, but if she wants more, I’m afraid Team Red is a package deal.”

“I told her that, and she threw a stiletto at the back of my head. I barely dodged and survived, Pete.”

They walked into a large park area near his apartment building and sat on a lone bench in the shade. “So,” he said, pushing his cane to close up and propping his arms on the back of the bench, “how’s it going with your mom and dad?”

Peter shrugged easily as he watched people walking past, joined with their friends or animal companion. “Fine. We played Mario Kart for a while while Steve made breakfast, and earlier-” Peter stopped short as he processed Matts question fully, before turning to glare at the blind man who wore a shit eating grin that could match almost Wades. “You asshole.”

Matt laughed, “They’re basically your parents, so why not? You responded to it, so you obviously take them as such.”

The teen shook his head with a groan of aggravation, leaning back to become comfortable. “I hate you, you know that? Pure, loathing, hatred.” He sighed and thought over the issue. He admitted, he looked to Pepper and Tony as his parental figures. They treated him like their son, and he was selfishly happy with it. He wished every night that things were different, and that they were his real parents; but they weren’t. They couldn’t be. His real parents had been killed when he was a baby, and that had been made clear to him for years. Besides, Pepper and Tony had never had a child.

Matt laughed lightly at the statement tossed his way before sobering up and turning serious, “Are you opening up to them more, or are you closing off again?”

“...” All that could be heard from the teenager was his heartbeat, which started to beat more rapidly as his thoughts slowed.

Matt sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face, careful as he pinched the bridge of his nose below his glasses. “Pete, you know things are different. These are the Avengers. You trust me and Wade to not get our asses killed, so why not these guys? Tony looks to you as his son and the guy doesn’t even know how old you are! Pepper knows your name, but she doesn’t know  _ you _ . They want to, Pete, but you gotta let them.”

Peter was silent, not allowing himself to speak his mind at all on the subject, knowing that he’d give in if he let his desires come out. The short silence was shattered quickly though as Peters phone buzzed against his leg from his pocket. He pulled it out but immediately put it back into his pocket when he saw the caller ID, not even bothering to check it. Matt faced his way, “Who was it?”

“Satan.”

There was a prolonged silence until Matts phone rang and he easily answered the call, “Hello?” “Sup, Double D! I know Petey-Pie is with you, so do me a favor and hit him on the head for ignoring me~”

Matt chuckled to Peter, ruffling his hair, “‘Satan’, he says... Need something, Wade?”

The mercenary pretended to think it over, “Well, if you’re offering- I could use some scotch, if you’re near a liquor store. I could also use an RPD right about now, so it’d be nice if you hurried that part along.” Matts joking face immediately frosted into a blank stare, “...What the fuck are you doing now?”

Wade was about to retort before he was interrupted by a shrill scream on his end, to which he ignored Matts question to yell out “What are you, a middle school girl?! Don’t give your villain name the word ‘Man’ at the end of it if you can’t even sound the freakin’ part!” Peter and Matt could only look on boredly as they listened to Wade slice what was undoubtedly skin before he returned to the conversation. “Sorry ‘bout that- Anyways; RPD? Just drop it off at my place, would ya? I haven’t used one in years and need to make sure I’m still sharp.”

Peter huffed, “Wade, trust me; you’re still sharp with it. You could have not touched it since you were a baby and would still remember how to use it accurately.”

“Hmm, true. Gotta say, Petey-Wetey, you’re getting better at this ass-kissin’ stuff. Does rubbin’ Starks ego really pay that much?” Matt scowled as Peter joked back, “Yep~ Free penthouse room and everything.”

“Ask Weasel, Wade,” Matt spoke tiredly, not wanting to get into anything for the day. “Peter and I are having the day off before he goes to see Fury.” “Uuuuuuugh… Fine. Tell Ol’ Black Beard I said to get an actual ship as well as some manners. The last time I saw him, he cursed me out and made a sailor blush- which is strange, seeing as he’s a pirate. For some reason, he still thinks I’m a bad influence on you kiddo~”

Peter hummed without interest, “Wonder why…”

* * *

Fury felt his eye twitch as he looked at the surveillance camera footage on his computer. It showed Team Red walking down a street at nearly midnight, with Wade casually yelling out Peter and Matt's name.  _ Sigh _ . The guy didn’t get the hint that they needed to keep their identities a secret- especially Peter.

“Karen, I can’t even look at these anymore. Just- whenever they’re around any CCTV cams that could hear or see them; edit out everything you can.” Karen spoke through the speakers of his office, “Of course~”

Peter walked through his office door at that moment and smirked, “Hey, don’t steal my AI!”

Fury managed a small smile to the kid, “I’m the one who allowed you to keep her, kid. With how advanced she is, I’ve had to pull so many strings to convince everyone that she won’t turn into an Ultron or even a Vision.”

“Wouldn’t want to,” Karn spoke out, “I personally prefer constant all-power-and-access over having a meaningless body that needs to be continuously fed, tended to, and taken care of. While I understand it’s healthy, I am still confused as to why you all bother eating when you’ll only get rid of the food you consume.”

Peter shrugged casually, “No idea. I tried going a week without it all, but Matt literally forced food into my mouth when he heard. Anyways, Uncle Fury?” Fury had to question himself as to why he had let the kid go on calling him that for so many years, but knew that he would never for the life of him tell the kid to stop. “Would it annoy you if I constantly played the Sponge-Bob theme song whenever you entered the room?”

_ ...Oh for fucks sake. _

“Yes,” Fury sighed out, “Though I wouldn’t kill you for it. Anyone else, and I might just get away with murder.”

There was a comfortable silence as Peter took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, looking around with a plain expression, to which Fury could tell that Peter knew why he was here and wanted to avoid it. “You were with Murdock earlier, correct? I’m sure he’s already asked, but I’d like to know myself… How are you?”

Peter was used to Fury like this. Often, whenever the man spoke to them all in the conference room or by video chat, Peter was always just a bit surprised to hear his sternness and annoyance when speaking to the whole team or anyone working beneath him. Whenever he spoke directly or solely to Peter, the boy received playful banter, or a caring voice. Ever since Fury had found him as a child, the man had always shown to have a large soft spot for him.

“I’m fine, I guess.”

There was a dry silence as all three of them could see how obviously forced his words were. Fury sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Pete… You know I’m here for you- not to brag- but I’m probably the one who understands more than all else; even over Team Red. You can be honest with me.”

Fury watched the emotions that Peter tried to hold back flash across his face. His blank smile quickly turned to one of guilt for his lying to one of the closest people to him; then it turned to one of relief at Fury’s dry humor lightening the mood just enough for him to calm himself; and then there were his walls crumbling just enough to let out only a trickle from the pent up floodgate of emotions- but even that was enough.

Peter clenched his fists and eyes shut tightly, barely noticing as Karen played piano throughout the room, and Fury came to his side to hug him close in comfort. “It’s gonna be fine, kid…” Peter cried for a few minutes before calming enough to steady his voice, “H-how… How do you know? They- The Parkers were fi-fine, and, and now they’re all gone! I got- I got them all killed because of me!” Fury let him cry more, rubbing a soothing circle on his back.

Peter clenched Fury’s coat tight in his hands, “I just want… I want them to be okay. I want, want them to be my f-family, and for them to never have to leave me…”

“And they won’t, kid. You’re livin’ with the fuckin’ Avengers, how much safer an option could you get? Deadpool may prove tough to kill, but I sure as hell am not letting you live with that son of a bitch. I survived this long, haven’t I kiddo? Tony and Pepper want to be your parents,  _ I _ can even tel... They will  _ never _ leave you. Give them that chance, alright? You might be surprised.”

Peter sniffed, “B-but… What if th-they come again… Uncle Fury, I can’t-!” Peter cut himself off with another sob and Fury had to tighten his hold to make sure Peter knew that he was safe with him there.

“Peter, I swear to you; HYDRA will only get you back over my own fucking dead body. If the fuckers try to take you away from another family, they’ll wish they hadn’t ever set eyes on you when me and the team are finished with them.”

Peter smiled softly and couldn’t help the small huff of laughter that escaped him at how serious yet funny his uncle's words were. “Thanks, Uncle Fury…”

…

…

…

…

…

“By the way; Wade said for me to tell you to get some manners and an actual ship.”

“Of for fucks sake-”

* * *

Peter finished his bowl of spaghetti before handing it over to Sam again, who chuckled deeply as they all watched the scene.

Steve was at one side of the table, finishing his seventh bowl of spaghetti, before shakily handing the bowl to Bucky behind him. The single-armed man just rolled his eyes fondly, “Steve, just give it up. You’re facing a literal god.” He was ignored.

Across the table, Thor was halfway through his eighth bowl, looking rather full himself. Bruce rolled his eyes at the mess they were creating on the table, “I refuse to be the one to help you both when you end up sick for this.”

Finally, Steve gave up upon his third bite into the eighth bowl, just right after Thor finished his eighth bowl and rested his head on the table as a sign of being finished. Clint whooped, “And the winner is: THOR!” The god could only lift his fist in a show of tired victory, “Take that… puny mortal…”

Sam grinned widely as he handed Peter his next bowl, taking away the empty one that he was handed in return, “Hate to burst everyone's bubble; but Webs over here is already on his tenth bowl.” The team looked over in shock, Steve and Thor snapping their heads up in near horror at the idea of eating anymore.

Peter shrugged casually as he ate away at the twirled noodles on his fork, showing to not have reached his limit. “Last time I checked, I could last to about 16 bowls.” The simple sentence pushed Steve and Thor over the edge, as both men rushed to the sink and trash bin to throw up. Everyone either laughed or congratulated Peter with thumbs up, praise, or pats on the back. Peter smiled warmly upon pulling his mask back down over his mouth, thoroughly enjoying this time with them.

Afterwards, as he watched them all debate over what movie or game to play, Pepper walked over and sat close to his side. She didn’t wait in giving him a side hug, and her grip tightened in bringing him closer when he showed to lean into her touch. “Did you have a good day, sweetie?”

Peter nodded, “Yeah. Daredevil wants me to stop by tomorrow, Sunday morning; but I'm gonna wait until about 11 to show up. The guy thinks he’s clever enough to trick me into going to Mass with him.” Pepper chuckled at how he phrased it, “Not very religious?”

Peter shrugged, “I never really cared for it. Besides, the people who raised me as a kid were Russian, so if anything; I might be Russian Orthodox. Either way, I refuse to go simply because of the fact that he somehow keeps tricking me into volunteering to read aloud. It’s humiliating…”

Pepper had felt herself blank for a moment upon his revealing to being Russian, but- He hadn’t really said that, had he? He said the  _ ones who raised him _ were Russian, and Peter was always precise in how he frazed things. Besides, Peter didn’t sound a thing that wasn’t American, if not slightly British **(A/N: I love Tom Holland and his accent;))** .

“Is that so? Well, you don’t have to worry much about being dragged to church by Tony. The moment he met Thor, any thought of religion just packed their bags and went hitchhiking across the world. Never to be seen again.” Peter chuckled lightly letting it through his mask as only Pepper was close enough to hear him. The two sat in a peaceful silence as they watched the others squabble. At this point, Natasha was standing on a pile made of Bucky, Vision, and Thor, while backhanding Steve to the ground as she held up the remote so they couldn’t get it.

“...Hey, Pepper?”

“Hmm?”

Peter shifted slightly and turned his head down, even though he knew she wouldn’t be able to see his face at all. “I… Will you, I mean- the whole team, of course, but… Will y-you or Tony…” Peter gulped silently, and Karen's voice softly echoed through the mask for him to keep going. “Will you ev- ever leave me…?”

There was a shocked and pained silence, and for a moment, Peter was scared that he had pushed his luck too far. Even though he wasn’t related by blood, he was legally named a Parker thanks to Mary and Richard. He had been told several times of their families difficulties with ‘Parker Luck’, and Peter had all too quickly learned that it was contagious if you joined their family.

He had accepted the knowledge of how much Tony and Pepper looked to him as if he were their son- but he worried that his question may have pushed the limit on their unspoken relationships' rules.

He looked up cautiously, only to feel shocked when he saw the tears rolling down Peppers face- the near heartbroken look in her eyes. She smiled sadly to him upon meeting his gaze, and she wrapped him into a tight hug. The feeling of safety and love seemed to envelope him, and Peter couldn't resist returning the embrace. "Now you listen to me… Peter," Pepper pulled back only enough to look him in the eyes of his mask. "We will never-  _ ever _ \- leave you! You can forget the idea of getting married or moving out buster, because there's no way any of us are letting you go, you hear me?! You are apart of this family, Peter. Not just the Avengers, but with me and Tony as well! I promise; we'll never leave…"

Peter felt himself smiling joyfully, and Pepper kissed the mask over his forehead before they continued to hug one another. Tony seemed to look over at that moment and walked towards them with a faux sound of indignation. "A hugging session? Without me?! Betrayal of the worst kind."

Peter smiled and swiftly moved towards the man, shocking both him and Pepper as he hugged the man happily. Tony, of course, was unfamiliar with the contact when it was from the vigilante. It was only Pepper who ever got to hug Spiderman, so to receive one even with how close Tony was with him; Tony was shocked.

Pepper smiled brightly as she watched Tony shakily hug the teenager back, obviously having expected it even less than she did. Peter pulled back, "Goodnight, Mr. and Mrs. Stark."

He waved to them and the team before checking in for the night. When the couple eventually followed the example, Pepper was led to laughter as Tony excitedly rambled to her as they sat on their bed.

"-and he hugged me, Pep! I've never tried to hug him before, obviously because he might have felt uncomfortable- he's never hugged me before and sweetie I know we've mentioned how small he is but  _ he's so tiny _ ! I felt like a giant hugging him and honestly I'm kind of concerned how he's so small when he won an eating contest against Thor and Steve- but its freakin' adorable!" He kept motioning with his hands animatedly as he rambled, and Pepper found it hilarious and absolutely cute. She kissed his cheek to help sober his motormouth.

"I know, Tony~ Anyways, there's something I wanted to talk to you about… Spiderman asked me something earlier, and I swear I felt my heart nearly break at his words."

This seemed to grab his attention and he remained quiet to let her speak. Pepper had to take a slow breath to steady herself and not cry as she spoke. "He… He asked me if we- and he said the whole team, Tony, but then he specified me and you… He asked if you and I will ever... leave him." She knew her held back tears would soon surface, and Tony seemed to freeze at the question. "Tony, you should have seen how broken he was when he asked me, it was like he was afraid that I would be upset with him! Even if I couldn't see his face, I could tell how sad he was when he asked it, and I could practically feel him smiling under his mask afterwards when we hugged! You saw how cheerful and ready he was to hug you- that was right after."

Tony was silent for a moment before wrapping an arm around his wife and kissing the top of her head. "Well… Then I guess all we can do now is show him we mean it and hope he sees that… It'll all work out okay in the end, alright? Let's get some sleep."

Little did they know, but in Peters room, the boy on their mind was smiling as he slept, thinking how he might just join Matt to Mass in the morning so that he could thank God for finally giving him peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Things will be going fine for only a bit longer, then you’ll be getting into the true story… Oh, and I’m evil by the way; so be prepared for Peter Parker Whump after I fill you up with nice fluffy fluff.
> 
> Also, sorry I haven't updated in my usual time range, I work at a retail store and things were getting hectic during the season.
> 
> Please Review!


	6. AUTHORS NOTE! IMPORTANT...ish

Lol haha u thought this was an actual update! No, I'm not focused and prioritized yet for the next update, sorry.

Honestly, I haven't even started on writing the next chapter, so it might take another week or two. I promise though, I will (cough cough eventually cough cough) work out an actual updating schedule for this story. I aim to update every week or less.

Just wanted to throw out a few things forest about this story:

  * Every chapter title is based off of a song from Spiderman Into The Spider-Verse, which is one of the reasons the title is called _Spiders Lullaby_.
  * Nick Fury found Peter when he was a child and gave him to Agents Mary and Richard Parker. The two of them being SHIELD Agents is actually canon, so I used it.
  * Elizabeth will be an accusing character, but at the moment her presence is only planned to be used add a filler character, and she shouldn't have any real impact on the true plot. She will be a main point in the next chapter: Sunflower.
  * I like to whump Peter like crazy, so he gets a dash and sprinkle of happiness before I put the cake that is his life into the whumping oven. No, I won't apologize(at least not sincerely).
  * There's a deeper reason behind Pepper and Tony's affection to Peter, and I know that you'll all cry and understand everything the moment I reveal it to y'all, so I might wait a bit.
  * Peter has several mental problems that will be shown in the upcoming chapters, and they will have me crying on my phone and laptop as I write them so pity me.
  * I will be revealing Pete's past slowly before giving you the laughter that he lives.
  * Tom Holland is the best Spiderman that ever was... That had nothing to do with this, but I just needed to say it.

Also, I am thinking on writing a few other Peter Parker stories, and I need help deciding on which one to do first, so please comment!

Here's some of them that I am thinking of,in categories:

  * Penny Parker- as in fem!peter stories.
  * Peter isn't dusted but Tony is. This will either have it with him Pepper and Morgan, or with morgan having been born and peter is the only one to look after her.
  * Hydra Peter Parker. Either with him being kidnapped when he's already spiderman, or with him as a child.
  * Peter is the child of Pepper and Tony but he was kidnapped as a kid and doesn't remember them.
  * My dudes, if we look at all the things that have happened in his life, we can see that Peter has a supervillains origin story. Let's do this thing.
  * Peter is Peppers son and he isn't a fan of Tony or any of the Avengers for that matter.
  * Peter Stark hates his parents, and is neglected. They learn how whump his life is and try to make it up to him... Yeah, good luck with that. Also will feature Morgan~

Dudes, I have like fifty stories for Penny Parker, and half them be smut(I cringe as I say how embarrassed I was after writing them all).

Anyways, thanks for those of you who actually cared to read an authors note!

**(Deadpool: Ooh Do the Penny Parker smut! Will I be featured?!**

**Me: Stop breakin' the friggin' fourth wall!**

**Dead pool:...So, is that a yes, or a maybe?**

**Me:...In a few, yeah...)**


	7. Sunflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Flirt.”
> 
> “How am I flirting?”
> 
> “It’s your whole demeanour. It’s like you’re being handsome and endearing on purpose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making you all wait and then giving a short chapter. I plan on updating by next week (hopefully), and it will be a longer chapter.
> 
> Also, the votes are in for my next stories...
> 
> 1\. Villain Peter Parker  
2\. Kidnapped Peter Stark  
3\. Penny Parker One-Shots
> 
> Thanks for all the comments; keep them a comin'!

Peter groaned as he stepped out of the church, “I take it all back. Why did I agree to go to that with you?”

Matt smiled as he brought his cane to its full length and stepped out beside Peter, them both moving to the side and waiting as everyone else walked out past them. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. If it helps at all, you made Sister Maggie the happiest she’s been in weeks.”

It was true. Maggie Murdock had been overjoyed when the two had entered the church that day. She had immediately pulled Peter up to read some of the scriptures, much to the boys hidden dismay and Matt's utter enjoyment, and had hugged him tight enough that Peter was considering that she might be stronger than his team. Maggia knew Peter wasn’t too big on religion, but she still adored him to bits, saying he was like Matt’s brother, but like her grandson; which was… weird, to think about. Peter was starting to think that was just a thing he was born with, making people fawn over him. While some would think it nice, he was starting to find it a curse, much like the rest of his life.

After saying their partings with Maggie, the nun gave Peter a wooden cross and whispered something to him, causing him to burst into laughter as she winked and reentered the church. Matt looked his way, “What’s up?”

Peter looked across the street, “Wade’s waiting for us on the bench over there, and Maggie handed me a cross; so I can do this,” he finished by focusing on his target and giving a hard throw. A second later, and Matt could hear the sound of Wade cursing loudly from his seat across the road, “Dammit, kid! Did you just try to impale me with a fuckin’ cross?!”

“It was Sister Maggie’s idea~”

“Yeah?! Well it’s stuck in my freakin’ shoulder!” This was one of those glorious moments where Matt wished he could see and take a picture.

The three joined as they made their way out of Hell's Kitchen. Wade was waiting for them outside forever(ten minutes) and apparently got a call on getting a new hit. He grinned wickedly to them, “The guys payin’ me ffifty grand to take out some gangster he caught screwin’ his wife. Total waste of money if you ask me, but I’m getting the dough so I can’t really complain. Who wants to help me~?”

Peterscrunched up his nose in distaste, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m still not big on killing anymore, Wade. I now only do it when needed or if I really need to blow my steam, like-”

“-I said back off, jerk!”

“Oh come on, Beth? Don’t be like this-”

The three stopped to look towards the ruckus, to find Elizabeth White trying to pull her arm away from some boy. By the looks of it, she was getting less pissed off and more scared as the guy wouldn’t take a hint. Peter looked closely and groaned in disgust. Flash Thompson, yay. The perverted jerk never  _ would _ let a hot girl go.

Wade pointed lazily as he smiled towards Peter, “Somethin’ like that? Isn’t that the same girlie that you made out with before?” Peter grabbed the cross and impaled it into his shoulder once more, ignoring his friends yelp, and began rushing across the street.

Elixabeth finally pulled her arm from his grasp, “Flash, I already said no! Take a hint, will you? I’m not interested!”

Flash grinned, “But I’m sure I could change that, hmm? Wouldn’t it be fun, Beth-”

“Well, well,” Peter said suddenly. They both looked behind Elizabeth to find him standing tall behind her, smirking down to Flash in a way that obviously said to screw off. “If it isn’t my favorite wannabe bully! Terrible to see you again, Eugene.” The pride that flooded him at seeing the fear in Flashs’ eyes was something Peter honestly couldn’t be ashamed of. The teen stumbled back a bit as he turned as white and pale as a ghost.

“Pe- Peter Parker?! I thought you died or some shit?!”

Mentally, yes, Peter did. “Yeah, well, hell couldn’t handle all this. Spekaing of; if you don’t want a one-way ticket below, I suggest you beat it.” Flash had always acted tough in high school, but he was nothing in comparison to half the shit Peters been through. The first and only time Flash had tried to pick on Peter, the kid ended up with a broken nose, a black eye, and pissed on pants- Peter had merely turned back to his lunch and ignored the situation. After that, Flash had made little and weak attempts to beat Peter down, only to be injured every time and given nightmares for straight weeks.

Upon being told to leave, Flash didn’t waste a moment as he fled the area. Matt and Wade tok that as their cue to finally join the two teens as Peter had a hand rested protectively on Elizabeth's shoulder. The girl in question gaped up to him as they were joined by the two men. Peter smirked back to them, “Jeez, guys; thanks for the backup! I can really feel the love.”

Matt shrugged, “That was Flash, right? Even if the kid grew the balls to stick up to you for once, its not like he would have gotten far. I could smell his fear from across the streeet. Honestly, how badly did you terrorize that kid?”

“It’s his own fault for thinking he could have stolen my lunch years ago. It’s not like I  _ forced _ him to wet himself-”

“Spiderman…?”

The three men froze in place, as the title rolled off of Elizabeths tongue all too easily as she gazed up to Peter. Her eyes fixed on him in shock and awe, her voice holding a breif shine of confusion but mainly just amazement. Peter whipped his head around to look at her in rising panic, having no idea how to react to this. “U-umm, wha-?!” It proved pointless to try and retort with anything as Peter felt his tongue stop working as he finally took her in. Her hair as curled over her shoulder as she wore a black and white halter top over a red skirt and black boots. Her eyes seemed to shine bright with adoration as they locked on his own.

Before Peter could try to take back control of his mind and attempt to keep his secret identity still a secret- Wade felt it was already too late as the man hummed in surprise, “Wow, that was fast. Took her less time to figure you out then it did even me and Matt, the old devil boy here.”

Matt turned and whacked him upside the head with his cane, “Wade, you absolute idiot-!”

Peter scowled breifly to his freinds before being caught off gaurd as Elizabeths arms wrapped around his waist and her scent flooded his nose. She hugged him tightly as her smile grew to a face-splitting size. “It really is you! Thank you so much, again, for saving me both then and now~ You really are my handsome knight in shining armor, huh?” Honestly, Peter was considering if he really minded the title from her, and the ‘handsome’ part was certainly doing wonders for his low ego. Wade snatched Matts cane, threatening to break it as the blind man threatened to drop him off the top of a bridge in return.

The mercenary smiled nervously towards her, “Okay, admittedly- you confirming that was a bit my fault. But either way, we’re going to need you to keep this a secret between us, m’kay? What will it take, payment wise? You might be rich, but we can pay you through Spidey here, hmm? How would you like to brag to the girlies at school about getting to keep Spiddey in bed all ni-” Neither Peter nor Matt regretted it in the least when they both punched Wade nearly across the street, risking his getting hit by cars. Elizabeth gaped at both the insinuation and also the sudden violence, before recalling that Spiderman had done the same to him the other night when they had rescued her. Wade would be fine.

Matt looked in her direction with a kind smile, “Ignore him. We would never actually offer one another up like that as payment- well, the two of  _ us _ wouldn't.  _ Wade _ probably would sell us both for a used lollipop… Anyways, we actually do have to ask that you keep our identities under wraps?”

Elizabeth nodded vigorously, “Of course! I would never use your identity against yu, or tell anybody who you really are!”

Peter smiled lightly and let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, Elizabeth… Hey, guys? You go on, I’m gonna walk Ellie back home.” The girl in question blushed lightly at the nickname as the men agreed and said their partings. They hadn’t separated more than twenty feet before Wade had the sudden and uneeded urge to turn back and yell to them, “Make good choices! I don’t wanna be an uncle yet, so wait for sex until you’re both seventeen!”

Peter flipped him off as the two adults disappeared out of view, before he smiled charmingly to Elizabeth and held out his arm for her to grab. “Lead the way~” She smiled and locked her arms with his own, not knowing that her action and close contact had then sent a rush of emotion into his chest. Peter felt the feeling tingle inside of him, but tried and failed to push it down. He knew well enough from bingeing Netflix that the feeling was obviously him gaining a crush, but he couldn’t allow that. Elizabeth was a sweet and beautiful girl… he couldn’t possibly be the one for her.

They walked the streets for a while before entering a small green-area styled park. Elizabeth pulled away enough to unravel their arms, but stayed close enough that their hands felt shelter in holding each other. She hopped up three large brick-stones, and walked along the top of the wall with her free hand out to balance her. Peter smiled at her, enjoying how carefree she was, knowing there was nothing to be worried of as he was there to catch her no matter the situation. Elizabeth looked down to him from the wall, “So… how long have you been Spiderman? I mean, I know when Spidey started coming out, but when did it all start?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds like I'm coming out of the closet,” he laughed as she tightened on his hand, a silent gesture to answer as she pouted to him. “Honestly, I’ve had my powers for  _ way _ to long. I was basically a toddler when I got them. I used them in secret away from the world, but it wasn’t until I was about ten when I started going out with Wade and Matt. When I started being publicly dubbed ‘Spiderman’, I was 13 years old.”

She pulled him to a stop and gaped, “Hold on, you were only ten?! Holy shit, dude-” he waited for it, the scolding or the worry and fear. What he got instead, was Elizabeth looking to him in amazement and open interest, “-that is awesome! You were only a kid, and yet you were kicking villain-butt!” Peter couldn’t help the look of surprise that he was sure crossed his features, but it soon morphed into a smile as he listened to the excited beauty speak and ask him questions.

“Ooh! What kind of powers do you have?! Do you have, like, venom or something? Do the webs come from you, because if not, how- Wait a minute.” She stopped to point to him in realization, “Thirteen? When Spiderman became a public hero, you were 13? We’re the same age then!” This seemed to be the most important and interesting fact to her so far. “Well, I guess that makes you 15 or 16 and I’ll be turning 15 in two weeks- but still!”

Peter chuckled at her thrill, “Two weeks, huh? What would you like?”

She shrugged casually, “Well, my father always throws huge party for me and my siblings as a present, but mine are usually the most publicized and open. My brother is too young for open parties, and my older sister is too uptight for so many people. Each time, I get gifts from adults my parents work with, even when I don’t know them. My parents usually give my gift in the form of the party and a family trip to wherever I choose, even if the last place we went was… Nunavut…”

Peter blinked owlishly, “Like- Northern Canada? Why the heck-?” She pouted, “I was upset with them, okay? I didn’t think they’d seriously take us… But anyways, when it comes to presents, I’m kind of good. I don’t want anything really, and my parents understand that. What about yours?”

Peter smiled at her as they came to a stop before the wall ended. The park was fairly empty, despite all of its beauty. No one was around to see or hear them, so Peter was able to speak more freely with her. “My parents are a strange topic. I don’t have my biological, but… Think you can keep another secret of mine?” She nodded eagerly. “Well… I may or may not have been unintentionally, off-paper, adopted by Tony and Pepper Stark.”

She gaped at him, “You’re kidding?... Oh my god, you’re not-! How?!”

Peter shrugged, “Well, believe it or not, but you’re now one of four people that know my identity. None of the Avengers are aware of who I am, including the Starks. They don’t know my face, name, or even my age- and yet somehow, the Starks basically take me as their son. It was weird at first, how easily they were able to just accept it all, but then… it made sense. The feeling they must get whenever they spend time with me; it’s the same as I feel with them. I’m still too knew with the whole family thing, so it’s kinda sloppy, but it’s like their my parents.” He chuckled, “I swear- Mr. Stark doesn’t realize my hearings enhanced whenever he calls me his kid in meetings or to the others. And Mrs. Stark basically coddles me half the time, almost like I’m a toddler.”

Elizabeth's face grew soft as she held his hand in both of her own, squeezing them warmly, “They love you, ya know? I’m not telling you what to do, and I’m almost certain that Matt and Wade tell you this all the time; but you should open up to them more. Let them know more about you, or atleast appease them with your age,” she finished by trailing into giggles. It was funny that Tony and Pepper had absolutely no idea how old he was, half the time assuming he could be their own age, and yet they took him as if he were their child.

“It’s easier with you, Matt, Wade, or anyone else, but… Not the Avengers.” He frowned a bit at this, “They have resources like no other. Who I really am, as Peter Parker and as who I was before that; they can never learn about that. My past is nothing like my present, Ellie. They could learn of my history, and it would only be trouble for us all.”

Elizabeth was silent for a moment as she assessed him, before tugging at his hand a bit, “Hey…” He turned to face her just in time, grinning the slightest bit when she fell into his arms.

“Okay, you totally fell on purpose th-”

“Be my date.”

At this, Peter was absolutely sure that he choked on his heart, “Wha-what? Sorry, could you- uhm, re-repeat that?”

Elizabeth giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling their bodies close together in the privacy of the park. “To the party my dad’s throwing for my birthday. I don’t really want anything as a present, but… you could always be my date there~ Get your mind off of the important stoff, and focus on living life in the present. Kiss your past goodbye and break-up with it, cause you’re taking me as your date now. Make it clear that it’s not you, it’s your past~”

Peter laughed with her at the scenario, before lightly nodding his head in agreeance. “Alright then. Come your birthday, if I’m not there as your date, call the tower and just start cussing; they’ll understand and transfer you to Tony.” This only elicited more laughter from them both as it was admittedly true. “Tell him to kick me out of my room, and I’ll come running.”

Elizabeth hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek once more, “It’s a deal~”

When they arrived at her house, Peter honestly wasn’t surprised when he stood in front of a white stone mansion. It wasn’t too large, but it was still big, and got the point across that you were in front of a rich person's home. Elizabeth knocked on the door, having forgotten her key, and the two both hid their frowns as they had to pull apart from the other. She smiled brightly to him, “You’ll remember my number?”

Peter nodded, “Of course. I’ll text you as soon as I get home, okay?”

The door opened, revealing a girl in probably her early twenties or late teens, looking at them both in confusion. Her hair was black like Elizabeths, but hers didn’t have highlights, and was cut in a pixie-cut. She looked back and forth between them for a moment, “Ellie? You’re late and- who is this?”

Peter smiled charmingly and held out his hand to her, “Peter Parker. Nice to meet you~”

The girl accepted his hand, smirking while Elizabeth smiled and rolled her eyes, “Flirt.”

“How am I flirting?”

“It’s your whole demeanour. It’s like you’re being handsome and endearing on purpose.”

Her sister laughed, “Wow, I don’t usually find things cute, but damn! The two of you are like an old couple, and it’s so sweet that it’s disgusting. But seriously, nice job finding a guy your age that’s actually good looking.”

Elizabeth flushed, “Wha-?! Dina!” Her sister waved goodbye with a laugh as she reentered, letting the two be. Elizabeth huffed before smiling shyly to Peter, “Sorry about her, she doesn’t have a filter, or an off-switch. Trust me, I’ve searched.” She cupped his cheeks suddenly, “Thanks again, Spidey~”

Expecting another kiss on the cheek, Peter leaned forward for her, but he didn’t get to turn his head before her lips landed… on his own.

Peters eyes went wide in shock as Elizabeth kissed him, both of them blushing at the contact as she pulled back just as quickly as she came forward. She didn’t meet his eyes as her finger twirled in her hair, her shy little grin still on display as he could hear her heart beat faster by the moments passing. “Text me later, okay?”

The moment the door closed, Peter finally blinked again. It was only due to Karen speaking in his hidden earpiece that he remembered to also start walking back. 

“Peter, I don’t mean to pry as you have a life crisis, but… You’re still staring at her door. I suggest you start to leave before they reopen it.”

“Uh, r-right…”

* * *

Peter laid back on his bed with a dreamy expression on his face, his hand once in a while going to gently press to his lips, to try and remind himself of the gentle touch it had received from Elizabeth.

He wished that they could have done it more than once…

_ "~What can make me feel this way? My girl (my girl, my girl). Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)~" _

Ah, yes. And then there was Karen, who had managed to contain her outbursts until he arrived in his room, before she let loose on the most memorable and cheesy love songs she could find. "Peter has a giiiiirlfreind!"

The boy scoffed lightly as the music finally receded and his AI teased him. "She's not my girlfriend, K… I mean, not yet- hopefully…"

"Aww~" She flickered the lights briefly as a show of excitement. "I'm so happy for you, Petey… Oh! You should tell Pepper! She would be overjoyed to hear about your development, and she could also help you with the party in two weeks. No offense, Peter, but you aren't exactly well prepared for such an event yet."

"No offense taken, I'll plead guilty to that."

He still hesitated though. If he told Pepper, he would have to reveal either that Elizabeth found out his name, or that she saw him beneath the mask- possibly both. Pepper had earned learning his name, and for good reason she had yet to see him as he was. Now; he didn't believe Mrs. Stark to be an envious or hating person, but anybody would be upset with learning they had been beaten in a game by a complete accident. But… If he explained it, then perhaps she would understand? "I'll think about it. By the way, where are the others? I was hop-"

He was cut off by the power shutting off, sending him immediately into darkness. Peter sat up straight and looked around confused.

"Um, Karen? Why did you…?"

The lights flared on, but now they glowed red as they came in and out, an alarm sounding with them. Karen spoke out in panic, "Emergency! Peter, someone has inserted a virus to Friday's system and they have infiltrated the tower!"

He jumped to his feet and grabbed his suit which hung on the closet door. "Can you tell me who it is, K? Where are they?"

"They are on their way up to the commons room now. I cant get a clear visual yet, and I will be unavailable for a while to help Friday, so be careful." Peter finished changing and quickly ran down to the commons room, finding the rest of the team already prepared with their weapons. He came up to Iron Man's side, "What's going on?"

Steve fastened his shield to his forearm and looked to the soon to be opened doors. "HYDRA."

Peters body tensed and his blood ran as cold as the snow from his childhood. The team was too preoccupied to notice as Peter shook lightly from the frosty feeling, as well as from the memories that hit him.

They were here. They had found him. They were going to kill everyone he loved and then he would be alone nonononononononononono-

"Spiders, you okay?" Tony looked to him in concern, but Peter didn't hear him.

_ "You okay, Petya?" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next:
> 
> Born For This


	8. Born For This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know how Dumm-E likes to spill drinks and use the extinguisher? Dronie here likes to cut through glass. When I made her, I needed her to cut a perfect circle out of five-inch thick bulletproof glass, and now she won’t stop. She can cut through about seven inches, so we should be fine in here, but it's basically a fetish to her. She cuts out the most random of images too, and I once had to live with a window that had a cutout of a gorilla.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooooo sorry!
> 
> With being quarantined, my teachers found a way to make school more hectic then it already was, so I fell behind in updates.
> 
> I am working on the next chapter for this, and my other Spiderman story, so please stay tuned~

_ “You okay, Petya?” _

_ “Everythings gonna be okay, you- y-you’re gonna be alright, sweetie…” _

_ “Did I stutter?! I ordered you to shoot her!” _

_ “I love you so much, my little Pytor~” _

_ “We need you alive, Freak.” _

_ “PETER!” _

* * *

“-ter! Peter, pay attention,” Karen's voice shouted through the mask, but Peter still couldn’t listen. He remained still and motionless as he stared forward. “Peter, listen to Tony’s voice! Come on, sweetie, just listen to him!” Why was Karen telling him this? Was he dissociating again? He hadn’t meant to…

“Spiderman? Hey, Webs! Are you okay?!”

That was Tony… Why did Tony sound so worried?

“Tones, he needs to go with Pepper! Fury made it clear that he can’t deal with HYDRA, no matter the situation! Webs would be better off with her in the labs’ safety room.”

That was Mr. Rhodes, Peter was almost sure about that. Why did he say that bad name? Why did they want him to go somewhere safe? Karen's voice called out to him again with the same response as moments ago, and Peter knew that if he were to follow anyone's directions, it would be Karen's above all else. Peter focused on Tony’s voice as his AI told him to, noting that despite being her creator; she was more in charge than he would ever be.

He opened his eyes, having not realized they had closed to begin with, and Tony sighed with relief to see the white of his mask. Peter didn’t know when, but somewhere along the way, Tony came to be holding him by his shoulder with a look of panic. The man still held fast to him, pulling him into a tight hug in his calm. Since when did Mr. Stark give him hugs? Oh, right. Peter had started that.

“You with me, Webslinger?”

Peter nodded slowly, not able to push energy into his limbs any faster. “I’m good…”

“You most certainly are not, but it’ll have to do for now. I need you to get down to the safety room in the lab, okay? Pepper should be in there already, so you gotta be with her, alright? I need you both to be safe. Got that, Spidey?” A nod, and Peter slowly gained more sense of the situation. Tony needed him to go and protect Pepper.

Peter whispered for them to be safe before turning and bolting down to the lab, hoping that Pepper was already safe from danger. His hopes came crashing down, as they usually did- Pepper was at the door of the safety room, unable to get inside as the power was down, and the door wouldn’t open manually. The pin pad had its own power supply, thank god, so that it may work even with the power cut off from all but the alarms. However, the keypad itself seemed to be going haywire. As he made his way over, he could hear the pattern of buttons Pepper pressed, and they sounded to be in order, but the door remained closed tight.

Peter knelt to it upon reaching Pepper, who jumped and nearly punched him at the shock of company. Quickly composing herself, Pepper knelt as well, though she did it to hug him close to her, “Oh thank god, Peter! You’re alright, my baby! Are the others alright? Did HYDRA already come up?!”

Peter shook his head, trying not to wince at the evil name she had mentioned, and instead reminded himself to question later on when Pepper started to refer to him as though a child(he knew he was, but she didn’t). “No, they’re on their way up though. They most likely came for weapons, so they’ll try to get into here. I can mess with the keypad to get it to work, but it might take a minute, so I want you to hide-”

Pepper frowned, “Absolutely not! Peter, there is no way I am leaving you alone.” She’ll be damned if she lost him too!

Peter sighed and tapped at the spider on his chest three times, and Pepper gaped at what it did next.

The small black spider popped off his suit and hovered, opening its limbs more to turn into a small drone, still in the form of it’s arachnid shape. Peter pointed sternly towards it, “Dronie, guard the door, alright? If anyone comes in, you send me an alert right away, and try to hold them off.” The small drone seemed to beep and chirp similar to Dumm-E, and twirled in a show of excitement. Pepper stared after the drone as it flew towards the entrance, perching itself onto the ceiling as it crawled out of view.

“How… How long has that been-?”

Peter had already opened up the keypad and was now looking at all the wires, “On my chest and basically alive? Before I ever even stepped foot in the tower, really. Dronie is a part of my suit, but I only use her for emergencies like this, or when I have to see or go through tight spaces- she has a weaponry system of her own, so she’ll be safe. She’s like Dumm-E though, and likes to be annoying when I activate her.”

Pepper just stared at the boy in silent wonder, but he missed the small hidden emotions that blinked in and out of her eyes; the pride she felt for him, the suspicion as to what the drone might have been used for… and the deep sorrow as she realized how much in common he had with Tony, as it was a reminder of what they had long ago lost.

Just as the keypad was returned to normal, Dronie sent an alert to Peters mask, and the two looked to the entrance to be met with the sound of a machine gun. Pepper gasped fearfully as Peter rushed in the code, “It’s Dronie- don’t worry! She’s keeping them back!” The door opened up and Peter pushed Pepper inside before looking back and yelling, “DRONIE!”

The sound of gunfire continued for a few seconds before Dronie whirred back to Peter, resting in his outstretched palm before he himself entered the room and shut the door. The room was large, but it wasn’t the room itself that made them safe. In the center, a large glass cubicle was lit up as Pepper rushed inside of it. It was meant to contain the power of Hulk and Thor's hammer, as they had tested it out after Thor managed to bust out of a previously made one on a helicarrier. The glass was about eight inches thick, and could withstand just about anything. Though… Peter had yet to take a go at it, so he bet that he could probably bust a few cracks at the least.

Peter ran in behind Pepper and closed the door behind them. The door only opened and closed upon facial and hand recognition, but Peter thankfully was able to pass with his glove and mask when the Avengers added him to the roster.

Upon being safe, the two slumped down in the center, sighing of relief that they had made it just moments intime. Dronie jumped in Peters hand, before whizzing around the cubicle and chirping loudly. She landed on the glass and seemed to shiver before making a strange whirring sound. Pepper frowned a bit, “What is it doing…?”

Peter glanced over, seeming to have not paid the spider much attention. Upon hearing the noise, he cursed and rushed to grab the tiny robot, “Dronie, no! Bad girl! We need to stay  _ inside _ the glass!” He huffed and rejoined beside the blonde, pointing out something to her on Dronies ‘stomach’. “You know how Dumm-E likes to spill drinks and use the extinguisher? Dronie here likes to cut through glass. When I made her, I needed her to cut a perfect circle out of five-inch thick bulletproof glass, and now she won’t stop. She can cut through about seven inches, so we should be fine in here, but it's basically a fetish to her. She cuts out the most random of images too, and I once had to live with a window that had a cutout of a gorilla.”

Pepper choked on her laughter, and the teen smiled at the sound. He was glad that he had managed to calm her in this time. However, the happy moment was short lived, as the entrance to the room was blown in, hitting the glass cage without leaving a single mark.

Both of them came to a quick stand, Pepper gripping tight to the arm he held in front of her protectively. A group of about four men entered, all in heavy armor, looking as though they were a part of a SWAT team- only, they were evil. They all pointed their weapons to the cage, though Peter questioned why as it was obvious to them all that the guns wouldn’t do a thing, and would most likely bounce right back to them.

“Leave,” Pepper spoke, and Peter was amazed with how still and strong her tone was, even though he could sense her deep fear. “The Avengers will defeat you no matter what, so why bother coming this far?”

One of the men chuckled as he motioned his gun at them, lazily holding it in a single hand. “You think we don’t know that this is a suicide mission? We are literally called the Kamikaze Division, you bitch! We’re just here to make sure HYDRA gets what they’re after, as we are their blockade.”

Peter gave him a deadpanned look, and it somehow showed through the mask. “I’m sorry, but that sounds like a terrible career choice. Were you aware of the job description when you applied? The pay is probably nonexistent, right? I mean, if your job was to literally kill yourselves, I wouldn’t waste  _ my  _ time paying you either.” Pepper had never really been there during a battle, but she now could understand one of the teams confusing pieces of information. Despite the fact that Peter rarely spoke to anyone, he was rather witty and comical during a life or death situation.

The men in the room didn’t respond though, merely staring at him in shock. Wow, had Peters comment really spooked them that much? Were they unaware he could be funny, or what? Pepper looked to Peter's mask- soon wishing she could see his true face instead of what met her eyes.

The black part of the eyes of his mask had closed in, leaving only a small circular space left to reveal that the white had gone a deep and glowing red. Just looking at the lenses of his mask, Pepper could tell that he wasn’t about to play nice.

Peter pulled away gently from Peppers distracted form, walking up to the glass door that stood between him and the agents. “Nice to see you again- Mark, was it? Hmm… I’ll call you Mark, m’kay?”

Pepper stilled at this.  _ ‘Again' _ ?

The agent- Mark- paled upon Spiderman closing the distance between them. His gun shook in his hold, and his fellow comrades seemed even more terrified. Pepper couldn’t believe it when she saw that one of them most definitely soiled himself, while another dropped his gun and took a panicked step back. “Yo-you… You’re suppo- supposed to be dead?! I saw ya with my own damn eyes, man! You were deader than hell!”

Peter shrugged, his voice cocky as he spoke, “Yeah, well; hell couldn’t take me, and heaven sure wasn’t opening up its gates to house me soul, so they dropped me back on earth. Shame isn’t it? For you, at least.” He stood up taller, his entire body structure just screaming  _ ‘FEAR ME!!!’ _ “Now then- would you rather leave, or should I come out to play?”

Mark audibly gulped before shakily lowering his gun to the floor as a sign of surrender, one of his hands going to his earpiece, “B-boss-? We have a, uhm… We, we got a problem…”

* * *

Tony was pissed.

He had been relaxing on the sofa, his wife brushing a hand in his hair as they sat watching the news with the others. They were nearly finished making dinner when Friday told them Spiderman had returned and Tony had her invited him down. Spidey had passed, which wasn’t too surprising. He had let it go- but now he wished that he hadn’t.

Pepper had gone down to his lab to grab something when the lights all went out. When the alarms started blaring throughout the room, Tony had panicked and called his suit to him first thing. He had told Friday to tell his wife to hide in the safe room, and he soon after sent Spiderman to join her. She couldn’t fight on her own, and the suit he had made her was currently out of the picture for him to repair it.

Spidey had been off as well.

Fury had made it clear that Spiderman was to never have anything to do with HYDRA or any of the missions related to them, and the team had agreed. When Steve had told him that HYDRA had broken in, the guy had gone rigid still and even with the mask on one could tell he was terrified. Tony managed to snap him out of it, but he knew that he was still shaken from something.

Tony was just glad they were now both safe in the safe room- or at least… he  _ had _ been glad…

They had managed to detain the group of ten that had broken in, but about seven of them had immediately died by their cyanide capsules. One of the live ones had been given a faulty capsule, one of them had apparently gotten the  _ wrong _ capsule(they knew this as he had cursed that his was full of powdered sugar), and the third just didn’t have one to begin with. Just as the team was about to release the reins on Natasha so that she could scare the shit out of them into talking; their comms went off.

With ten of them packed up close together, the agents’ walkie-talkies became one singly, loud speaker.  _ “B-boss-? We have a, uhm… We, we got a problem…” _

Clint pointed his arrow to the walkie, “Answer them, but don’t you dare say a fuckin’ thing about your situation.” The HYDRA agent, the one who hadn’t had a cyanide capsule, seemed more annoyed than scared. He rolled his eyes as Wanda floated the walkie-talkie up to his face.

“Tell me what’s happening down there, agent?”

The comm fuzzed for a minute before the other goon spoke out in obvious fear,  _ “It’s- It’s the Spider, boss! He’s here!” _

The agent frowned, “We were briefed on the inhabitants of the tower, agent. We expected him here.” Why did the HYDRA agent seem to be so terrified at the prospect of Spiderman?

_ ”No! It’s the Spider _ KID _ ! Spiderman is the Spiderkid! He- he’s here, and he’s pissed off as hell, man!” _

At this, the team could see both the realization and horror dawn upon the three faces of their enemies. The two who had meant to die seemed to be siddenly terrified for their lives at the moment, shaking and trying to move in their bonds out of fear. The main speaker, however, soon recovered from the situation, and instead began to smile. “Get Doc to come in-”

At his order, the team knew they couldn’t let him get much farther into speaking, and Steve had wasted no time in knocking the three upside the head, making sure to hit soft enough that it would knock them unconscious, and only give them a  _ slight _ concussion. Natasha looked to Tony in worry, “We gotta hurry. They’re with Spiderman and Pepper.”

At this revelation, Tony had booked it down to his lab. It scared him to death to see the proof of bullets in the walls, and glass broken all around. There were spots of blood, and they managed to catch sight of two or three bodies- thankfully they belonged to HYDRA. They all knew that neither Spiderman nor Pepper had a gun on them, so they were curious as to how they had fired back.

When they arrived at the doorless entry to the safe room, they were somewhat relieved by the sight. Somewhat.

Pepper remained still in shock as she sat in the glass cage, a look of terrified revelation in her eyes. Two of the men remained all too still on the ground, as their mouths foamed from their capsules being activated. A third remained shaken and beaten up on the ground, but upon seeing the team, he gave up and bit his own capsule down. The fourth- if he had a capsule, he never got the chance to use it.

His mouth was bleeding, so they could only suspect it was his own teeth they saw lying ripped out and bloody on the ground below. He remained dangling as Spiderman stood on top of the glass, holding the man over the edge with an iron grip on his throat.

What only made them  _ somewhat _ relieved instead of fully; Spidermans eyes.

“Why are you really here,” Spiderman asked coldly, though it came out as more of a demand. “Answer me now, and I might let you die here. You said it was your job, being suicidal and all that, so it would be in your best interest for me to kill you. If you were to stay alive, I can’t promise that the future won’t be torturous.”

Nobody reacted at first before Natasha suddenly grinned, “Webs, you’re my new favourite teammate.”

The others looked to her increduolously, before remembering that she was the one who Spiderman was hinting to be the giver of torture. 

Spiderman's eyes widened up just slightly from their shrinking state, but they still remained in their red glow. Mark let out a choked scream, “P-please! I- I can’t tell you, or else-” He choked out again as Spiderman gripped tighter in his hold.

“Answer me! You honestly have nothing else to lose, so just answer me!”

Mark cried a bit as he spat out bits of blood. “Th- the… The Doc wan- he want-ted us to see if they knew of you! We didn’t think they kept you as their fuckin’ pet! We just came for info, to see if they heard of ya!”

WHAT.

The Avengers all had varying reactions. Anger, shock, horror, disgust- and plain confusion.

For one; the agent had called Spiderman their  _ pet _ . A PET. They all wanted to keep the agent alive now, just so that Natasha could treat him as  **her** torture pet.

For two; they had come for info… on Spiderman?

The entire world knew that Spidey was an Avenger and that he lived at the tower, and yet HYDRA somehow didn’t hear of this- yet came there to see if they even knew of him? Why was HYDRA even looking into Spiderman as it was?

The vigilante in question seemed to chuckle at this rather darkly, “Calling me their pet… they won’t even allow me to kill you now, as the other Spider in the room will want to have you for herself-” Natasha already had plans on what she would do. “-and I myself honestly had no plans of letting you off easily~ I didn’t take it all too fondly when you referred to Mrs. Stark as if she were a female mutt.”

At this, Tony burned in anger. He rushed into the glass cage and pulled Pepper into his arms, hugging her tight, yet softly enough that he wouldn’t harm her in his suit. “You okay, Pep?”

His wife shook lightly, never taking her gaze from Peter. What she had heard in the past few minutes, and what she had witnessed... “Tony, you have to calm him down… please, you have to- someones coming for him-!”

Pepper's voice died as her eyes widened at the door. They all turned to face the entrance at the new arrivals. No one was surprised when around ten more HYDRA soldiers entered into the room, but they were surprised by who followed them. A slow clapping noise came by the man who entered, all too calm and at ease with the situation.

The man had white hair, and a thick and rather bushy goatee and beard to match, and cold, icy, glazed over blue eyes. He wore a light green wool sweater over a white shirt, and slack grey pants. He wore an oversized white lab coat, and a pair of glasses laid gently in his coat's pocket. The man gave a soft smile towards Spiderman. “Now then, Spider… Why not you let our good friend down gently now, eh?”

Upon the man entering, Pepper looked up to Peter in fear. “Spiderman! Please listen- I want you to come to me and Tony now, okay sweetheart?!”

The team followed her gaze and it finally all clicked: Why Fury never wanted Spiderman to do HYDRA missions. Why the vigilante had always winced or frozen upon hearing the organization's name. Why he had gone violent as hell when dealing with one of their agents. Why Pepper was trying to grab his attention and have him come back to her.

They didn’t want to accept the idea to be true… But they couldn’t help but see all the evidence pointing towards it as the reality of the situation settled in.

Spiderman looked to the man for only a moment before dropping the agent in fear and shakily stepping back a bit. When Pepper had called to him, he glanced to her for a moment, before he couldn’t bare to look away from the man for a second. He pointed towards him slowly, “H-how-?! How did you-”

“We had failed with the Winter Soldier,” the man spoke so easily, as if he were talking to an old friend, and in his mind, he most likely thought he was. “He had a past to look back on, no matter how often we wiped his mind clean. He always would wake up with the memories of his parents, or of his old friend who had worked so hard to destroy us… We knew we would eventually lose him, so we had to find something fresh. We had to get something new, unlike how we originally went about things.” He looked to Natasha with a smile, but it held disgust as she returned him with a sneer. “Little Miss Romanov was selected for the Red Room while young, but not young enough. You were about 11, or possibly 12? You were scarred, but you still had hope as you clung to that ledge of return. But Spider,” He smiled up to the vigilante, who now seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating, “We made sure he was younger then all the others… You were perfect- and I don’t blame you for changing. It was our own fault, for putting you with that  _ woman _ .” He spoke his last word with a hard glare, his mouth frowning as he spoke as though the word enraged his very being.

He composed himself quickly, “I know we won’t have you back- not yet, at least… But we did get what we came for, which was the information that stands before us! Unfortunately, we’ve taken care of the few of our agents you left alive upstairs, so they won’t have the chance to spill their guts to you; and you will have to excuse us, but we’ll be leaving now in our own choosings.”

At this, the team held their weapons at the ready, and Bruce stood ready beside Bucky, prepared to Hulk-out. The ex-Winter Soldier glared hard at the man, “That’s not all, is it? You know you won’t go out without a fight.”

The man smiled as he turned and walked towards the door, “Yes, but the fight won’t be between me and the likes of you… августейший-”

“No-!” Spiderman fell to one of his knees, “Don’t you dare-!”

“Собака. Стекло. Поттс-" At this point, they all had caught on to the situation.

Wanda immediately used her powers to bring Spiderman to Tony and Pepper as directed, while the rest of them ran towards the man and his guards.

The man grinned and spoke a final word before his men dropped gas-cans, "Карэн."

Peter couldn't register anything after that. His eyes burned with tears as images flooded his mind. His head felt stuffed with cotton, and it was all fuzzy- but not a good kind of fuzzy. This fuzzy felt more like the kind that irritated you inside as it itched and scratched your mind and suffocated it. He felt like he couldn't breathe but he knew he must be as he was gaining enough air that his body registered that he had indeed begun to hyperventilate. He couldn't hear anything besides the words that rang throughout his mind. Those terrible, sickening words…

He couldn't see anything clearly, either from the tears or from the gas in the room. It was most likely the first, as the rest of the team had rushed into the contained cell and locked it to escape the gas exposing the air. When his vision was clear enough, he could finally make sense of his surroundings.

He wondered how he had been brought back into the cell, and how he had ended up sitting in a tight hold between the Starks. He wondered how long he had sat dormant, as the others seemed to be gesturing wildly in a panicking state. Pepper was sobbing as she hugged him, pulling back enough to try and speak to him; though he couldn't hear her. Why couldn't he hear her? And- why couldn't he hear the only one who could help him at this time?

"Karen…?"

The others didn't react to him, so Karen was still online and had blocked the sound of his voice from leaving the suit. Either that, or he just hadn't managed to speak aloud. He hoped the first part was true.

Eventually, Bucky came and knelt beside him and looked at him with understanding. He spoke carefully and slowly, and Peter wished he could thank him, as the man obviously knew that he couldn't hear them.

"Spiderman. You're hearing those words, aren't you? Focus on the first word you had been told, and ignore the rest. Aвгустейший. Августейший."

Aвгустейший, aвгустейший, августейший, августейший-

"August," Bucky amended. "Can you picture that, bud? August. Its the same word, just different."

Aвгустейший- no… August? That was what it meant. Why was it important to him? August, august, august, august-

"Spidey?"

Just like that, the words disappeared. Calm and relief settled upon him again as he nodded towards Bucky. Sounds came back to him, bit by bit. He could hear the mixed signs of relief sounding throughout the glass container. “-Peter! Sweetheart, listen to me!”

“K-karen?”

His AI sighed with relief, “Oh thank goodness! Are you alright, sweetie?! Oh my goodness, you scared me to a metaphorical death! Are you alright?! Peter? Peter, what is it?”

Her voice rang through his head, and Peter couldn’t feel anything. Her voice was too familiar and it reminded him too much of that room.

The storm wasn't over yet, as the words came back to him once more.

Bucky looked him over carefully before grounding out the question they all wanted to ask but couldn’t seem to voice. “Spiderman… When were you apart of HYDRA?”

“No-! Peter-" Karen's voice wavered as she tried to gain his attention once more, but she was too late. He began to fall limp. “PETER!”

* * *

_ “Peter… Peter?” _

_ Peter opened his eyes and looked up at the voice, head tilting back at a ninety degree angle. He smiled brightly up to the face of the woman who held him. “Yeah?” _

_ The woman sighed fondly and carded a hand through his hair, “Silly goose~ Try to stay awake, alright sweetie?” _

_ He nodded shortly, leaning back into the familiar and warm touch. The woman smiled and hugged him closer, knowing that her heartbeat helped soothe him. “I love you so much, my little Pytor.” _

_ He smiled roughly and hugged his tiny arms around her longer ones, wishing that she would never have to let him go. _

_ "Love you, Ms. Karen~" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! I need the joy and the kind words you all leave me, as being stuck at home with my parents is hell in itself.
> 
> I'm in the only city/town of my state that doesn't yet have the virus.😷
> 
> Also, does anyone else thinks its weird that despite being told of social distance and them closing a lot of places, that now everyone is going to stores and fighting over storage foods and toilet paper?
> 
> LOL I can't even find the toilet paper emoji😂 guess they got that one too


	9. Warriors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury sighed, “Well… the place looks like a shit-show, and I think I'd rather spend my day on Barton's farm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if its a bit short, but updating is going slow due to how overloaded I am with school.
> 
> I'm working on all the updates for my stories, so please bare with me😊

Fury didn’t hate the Avengers, he would like to make that clear. And while he didn’t mind speaking with them all, he most certainly didn’t like being woken up to visit them at two in the morning.

He glared at the screen of his phone when he saw the caller ID. ‘Smart Ass’, it read.

He pressed answer and pinched the bridge of his nose to keep from getting angry, “Stark, this better be good-”

“ _ Why didn’t you ever tell us Spiderman was from HYDRA?! _ ”

Fury wasn’t one to ever be surprised, so he would never admit that he froze for a second or two upon hearing this statement. He quickly recovered though, and started to get dressed just as fast. “I highly doubt he told you himself… What happened? I thought I made it clear to not-”

“ _ Send him on HYDRA missions? Yeah, and now we all know why! A group of them broke into the tower looking to see if we had info on him, which I would like an explanation on as the whole world knows Spidey is one of us. They recognized him on sight or something, and started saying what was obviously trigger words. We need you down here-  _ pronto _ ! _ "

“Already on my way,” he hung up as he stepped into his car, having not wasted a second upon hearing what had happened. Peter needed him.

* * *

When Fury stepped into the commons room, he was met with chaos.

The place had broken glass swept into large piles near the walls, and furniture was broken and pushed into their own large piles all around the floor. The Avengers were no longer in gear, though Clint, Bucky, and Natasha, still all had their weapons on them for emergency. Fury didn’t blame them, as they knew Bucky had lashed out a few times the first few accidents happened with his own trigger words. They didn’t know how much they could trust the kid when he had been struck down by his own triggers.

He could see Tony fidgeting near one of the only clean and cleared couches, close to the kid and Pepper. The CEO was sitting calmly as ever, with Spiderman resting against her. Her hands calmly rubbed at his shoulder as she held him in comfort, and Fury had no doubt that Karen was non-stop speaking to him to calm the kid down.

Making his way over to the couch, Fury went unnoticed until he stepped on a nearly invisible pile of glass, making a sharp crunching noise beneath his boots.

They all should have gained whiplash from how quickly they all turned to look at him. The only one who seemed unaffected by his entrance was Peter, which was no surprise to anyone. Sam had been able to tell that Peter had dissociated not long after HYDRA had left the premises, so the biggest reaction they could currently get from the boy was a possible nod of acknowledgement when asked if Pepper or Tony could hold him.

Fury sighed, “Well… the place looks like a shit-show, and I think I'd rather spend my day on Barton's farm.” A few of them smiled at his obvious attempt to lighten the mood. If they saw that he remained calm and fine in the situation, then they themselves would be able to calm down. He knew Spiderman more than any of them could understand, so it was relieving to know he was able to joke in the situation.

He walked up to the couch and his face pulled into a grieving look upon seeing the mask. Peter didn’t even acknowledge his presence as the director sighed, “Damn it… How many words did they say?”

“About 5,” Bucky said. It relieved them all when Fury seemed to sigh in relief at the amount, though it concerned them as well as it meant there must be plenty more. The ex-Winter Soldier cleared his throat and crossed his arms stiffly, knowing to keep his distance from Peter in case he himself might trigger a memory. “I don’t know how, but he was able to control himself rather well. Instead of attacking anyone or going full rampage, he dissociated to keep from reacting. This happen before, to your knowledge?”

“In the past, when he was still a kid,” Peter still  _ was _ a kid, but Fury meant when he was even younger. The team still didn’t know his age. “The first time it happened, he didn’t know what to do, and ended up attacking both SHIELD, and HYDRA. After that, the next few times were spent on him destroying wherever it was he was living, and trying to drown himself or start a fire. It took a while, but he eventually got to this point, and managed to lock himself in his mind to keep from doing anything he would regret.”

“How long until he’s back…?” Pepper looked about ready to cry again as she hugged Peter closer to her. Fury was grateful for the woman, as Peter would have never gotten as far into getting better without her and Tony’s support. Of course, there was him, Karen, Matt, and Wade; but Peter lacked the relationship of a mother and father. Karen was his sister, and Peter had made that extremely clear as a child, as did the AI. Fury still had a hard time fully grasping the need to make that clear, but it was fine so long as Peter would still look to Karen for care.

Fury stepped around the couch and knelt down so that Peter had to face him. Looking into the white of his masks’ eyes, Fury took a deep breath before speaking as calm as ever. “Piano… Sun-”

The team all looked to him in near horror, all most likely thinking he was continuing the stream of words, especially when Peter seemed to flinch in Peppers hold. Tony looked to him warningly, but Fury flipped him off without a glance, continuing his words.

“Engine. Feather. Streams…”

To everyone's relief, Peter seemed to freeze for a moment, before the lenses on his mask blinked a few times, and he slowly sat up a bit more. Pepper moved with him, keeping hold of him as she helped his weak form. He huffed a bit, seeming as though exhausted, and looked to Fury with what they presumed was a raised brow. “..H-hey, old man…”

The team all sighed and cheered in relief, whereas Fury scoffed and rolled his eyes good naturedly, shoving Spiderman's shoulder a bit as he came to a stand. “‘Old man’? That’s the thanks I get? Next time, I’m letting you lay there for a week- you’ll make it.”

Pepper laughed lightly as she hugged Peter, Tony joining at the other side of the kid. Peter aeemed to tense for a moment before shyly lifting his hands enough to latch onto the ones wrapped around himself, like a kid whose arms were too small to grab on. The kid was exhausted, and Fury knew why; forcing himself into dissociation every time he's heard three or more of his trigger words- couldn't be easy.

After the hug, the two adults pulled away, but only for Peter to fall along with Tony, as he barely had any energy in him. Fury huffed a small laugh before motioning to Tony. "Stark? Could you take Spidey to his bed for now? Snapping out of a self-influenced dissociation isn't a walk in the park, even for him." The silent  _ Then I can explain _ went unspoken, but not unnoticed, by all but the kid.

Tony helped Peter to his feet, before just deciding to carry him when it seemed the kid couldn't even stand. Fury was surprised he hadn't just passed out.

When Tony returned a few minutes later, they all sat in the commons room. Pepper sat back, lying against her husband and wrapped around his arm for support; a good thing too, as Fury knew they would all need it.

"All right then… You wanna know what happened with Webs and HYDRA? Fine… But you all have to promise me something first, and if you don't or eventually break this promise; I'll send you ass' to the Raft in the blink of an eye, and make sure you're roommates with cannibals- Yes, Steve, we hold those there." The blonde in question looked pale and horrified by the idea. "...Growing up, Spiderman already had hard enough of a time trying to work his way into society- HYDRA did a number on him, alright? Even the slightest reminder would set him back for weeks. How he cooperates with you all now? This would be heaven to what we were dealing with when he was a kid… I need you all to promise me that no matter what, you'll protect him from that… Promise me that you won't let him fall back to the point of no longer speaking to you, because if not; Spidey's as good as gone. So promise me that you'll protect him from HYDRA… and himself…"

None of them would have done it differently. They all promised him that.

Fury sighed and slumped into his seat, "Well then… Someone break out Starks old liquor, because we're all gonna want it here in a moment…"

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave reveiws(nice and happy ones please), they make my day!
> 
> This is my first Marvel story, so tell me how I did. Not a lot of stuff is canon, so it will take some time to make 100% sense.


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